Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) won La Course by Le Tour de France, held on the morning of stage 1 of the men's Tour de France. After an aggressive race, the 24-year-old Dutchwoman was the fastest in a sprint of a group of eight, passing Marianne Vos (Team Jumbo-Visma) on the last metres to take the victory.
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) also squeezed by Vos to finish second, with Vos in third place.
“I was really looking forward to the race this morning, but I was not expecting to win. It was an awesome race and gives me a lot of confidence. And now that I won La Course, I am looking forward to the women’s Tour de France next year,” Vollering said.
The women's peloton raced a 107.4km that started in Brest and finished with three laps of a 14-kilometre with the finish line atop the Côte de la Fosse aux Loups in Landerneau.
Vollering's victory means that she moves into the overall lead of the Women's World Tour.
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La Course by Le Tour de France 2021 - Top 10
Pos.
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Demi Vollering (Ned) Team SD Worx
2:50:29
2
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den) FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope
3
Marianne Vos (Ned) Jumbo-Visma Women Team
4
Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Team SD Worx
5
Grace Brown (Aus) Team BikeExchange
6
Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM Racing
7
Soraya Paladin (Ita) Liv Racing
8
Liane Lippert (Ger) Team DSM
9
Elizabeth Deignan (GBr) Trek-Segafredo
0:00:04
10
Sofia Bertizzolo (Ita) Liv Racing
La Course by Le Tour de France - History
La Course by Le Tour de France will embark on it's 8th edition on June 26 in Brest in 2021.
The event was launched in 2014 after a successful petition to ASO to include women's racing alongside the Tour de France.
It started as a circuit race on the Champs Elysées on the final day of the Tour de France. Those sprinter-style circuit races were held for three editions won by Marianne Vos, Anna van der Breggen and Chloe Hosking.
ASO shifted it to a two-day experiment in 2017, which saw a summit finish on the Col d'Izoard, held on the same day as stage 18 of the men's race, followed by a handicapped time trial in Marseille. Annemiek van Vleuten won both stages and the overall title.
ASO shifted it back to just one day event in 2018, a mountainous road race linked Annecy and to Le Grand-Bornand, also won by Van Vleuten.
The event was then moved to a circuit race in Pau in 2019 won by Vos. Last year's La Course was held in Nice won by Lizzie Diegnan.
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has made a long-awaited confirmation that Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) will launch a women's Tour de France in 2022. Zwift announced that it will become the title sponsor of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift that will be held from July 24-31 in 2022.
The route - key climb
La Course by Le Tour de France 2021 - Profile (Image credit: ASO / La Course by Le Tour de France)
The women's peloton will race a 107.4km starting in Brest and finishing with three laps of a 14-kilometre with the finish line atop the Côte de la Fosse aux Loups in Landerneau. There is a total elevation gain of 1,800m and the race will favour the punchiest riders.
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