La Course by Le Tour de France 2016

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July 24, 2016, Champs-Élysées, Paris, Road - Women's WorldTour

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 Hello and welcome to our live coverage from La Course by Le Tour de France.

 

 Hello and welcome to our live coverage. The race has just rolled out and ahead of the women's peloton in the 12th round of the World Cup is 89km and 13 laps of racing. 

With the centre of Paris shut off for the end of the Tour de France and of course, La Course, the route provides one of the most iconic landscapes possible in cycling. The women's peloton have started and there's no time for a gentle roll out with attacks already coming thick and fast. The race is still together though and there's no sign of rain, which was such a feature of last year's race.

The  defending champion Anna van der Breggen is not on the start list today but another former champion, Marianne Vos is. She has been in blistering form of late and starts as one of the main favourites. She won the first La Course in 2014 and picked up three stages in earlier this month in the Thüringen-Rundfahrt.

We're onto lap two and the race is still together. Nervous tension out there as riders look to see who will take the race on. The prediction is that an early break will go but with the race only 89km in length no rider will be given that much room. 

Wiggle High5 are another team that come into the race with a lot of options. Chloe Hosking is their designated leader and won a stage in the women's Giro. She's picked up a number of wins in fact this season and has been consistent. The Wiglets also have Dani King, Lucy Garner, and Amy Pieters within their ranks.

You can find our complete start list for the race, right here.

At the moment it's Vos's team and Canyon SRAM Racing who are on the front controlling affairs. 

The sun is out at the moment and there's little wind out on the course. We're already seeing a few riders drop back to team cars though for instructions and mechanicals.

Actually there's a bit of a cross wind out there, a few flags in the distance pointing to those conditions. 

We have a move off the front and it's decent. Hannah Barnes the GB champion is there, along with Olga Zabelinskaya, Brand and two more riders. They have a gap of around 12 seconds on the field. Barnes and Brand are both sprinters and Chantal Blaak is also in the move. 

58km remaining from 89km

The leading four are holding that 12-13 second advantage with Wiggle putting more firepower into the chase. They're perhaps the biggest team to have missed the split so it's up to them to help close the gap. 12 seconds is nothing on a course like this, with 58km to go though, so no need to panic just yet. The four leaders are working well together though and their advantage has moved out to 18 seconds. 

Wiggle have pulled off their chase efforts and that slight lull allows the gap to open out by a few more seconds. Topsport Vlaanderen - Etixx start to take up the chase as we head over the line for the start of another lap. 

There were some mentions on social media of Barbara Guarischi crashing out. Lets hope that she's is okay. That does leave her Canyon team with just four riders. Barnes is in the move but they do have Tiffany Cromwell in their ranks. The Australian has found her form again in the last few weeks and she has the talent to be in the mix this afternoon. 

The chase from the peloton has the gap back to 10 seconds. Vos is near the front and just keeping out of trouble. Orica have joined the chase along with Ale Cipollini.

51km remaining from 89km

The catch is about to be made. 49km to go and once the break is caught, that's the perfect time to make a counter - attack. Will Wiggle try and go back on the front foot after missing the first break?

Break caught and straight away we have another wave of attacks. Orica are trying to get in the action with a rider sitting third wheel and looking to match any accelerations. I think that's Jessica Allen.

A two rider move has gone clear and Orica missed it so they're the first to try and react. The move is closed down instantly. 

A three rider move has started to create a gap. Boels and Orica each have a rider there. If the CN blimp could get a bit closer to the action we'd be able to pick out the third rider.... They're from Cervelo Bigla.

The move has been nullified but splits are starting to appear all over the bunch as we head into the final 40km of action.

There's not a single team who can dictate the race, which is providing exciting action out on the road but a break can't go clear because the pace is too high. 

Around the Arc de Triomphe and Barnes is once again near the front and doing the early work for Canyon. And there's an attack. The pace dropped for a split second but despite the impressive acceleration the move is snuffed out almost instantly. 

Near the back of the field Coryn Rivera seems to be looking for her team car. The American is another strong sprinter and could well be in the hunt for the win today. 

Kathrin Hammes has managed to go clear with 30km remaining in the race. The gap is perhaps five seconds as she looks around for someone to try and make the juncture. It's not going to happen and the attack has been reeled in.

31km remaining from 89km

Amy Pieters is the Wiggle rider but it's all back together. 

Wiggle have gone again but UHC shut the move down and then try and get something going themselves. The riders at the front just look around at each other and the momentum is lost. 

Through the feedzone as Hosking moves up and sits near the front.

24km remaining from 89km

Team Liv-Plantur and Boels Dolmans follow suit but the pace has eased. Here comes another attack, this time from the Park Hotel team.

Rabo are looking to catch anything that goes clear. Five riders have attacked together and it's Vos's team that lead the chase. 18km to go and the Dutch squad are intent on setting this race up for a sprint finish.

Cervelo Bigla throw another rider up the road but the move is pounced on immediately. 

Wiggle again try and break up the race but it's Pauline Ferrand Prevot who closes the gap. 

15km remaining from 89km

There's an attack from the young French rider Eugénie Duval. She has a small gap but Brand goes passed her. Wiggle now react and try and pull the move back. The Raboliv rider has one rider with her from Wiggle and there's a small gap to the peloton.

11km remaining from 89km

UHC swarm the front of the peloton and start to really put the pressure on. The gap is holding though at 12 seconds. 

9km to go and the gap is hold. But Brand almost loses contact. She's on the rivet right now having already been on the attack in the race. 10 seconds is the gap.

8km remaining from 89km

Huge crash in the bunch . A number of riders are down.

King is down, two from Boels and one from Orica. A touch of wheels with around 10 riders on the deck.

That may help the break. They have 10 seconds with one lap of racing to go. Topsport now lead the chase. Can they pull this pace? Otherwise you have to fancy Pieters for the win.

8 seconds. It's coming down. Soudal also joining the chase.

5km remaining from 89km

Apologies - the previous trio still have a few seconds. They were just out of shot. Raboliv move up though and Vos is starting to appear near the front. The gap to the leaders is 10 seconds. 4km to go.

And there's another crash near the back of the crash. Another Wiggle rider has come down.

Now it's all back together with 3km to go and there's another huge crash.

Another 8 or 9 riders down on the deck. That was right near the front of the bunch.

The peloton down to less than 30 riders with 2.7km to go.

Inside the final 2km and there's a move from Boels Dolmans. We have a couple of riders clear. 

Van Dijk is the rider who is clear. Canyon have to close this gap. Raboliv come up to the front again. 

Around the final corner for Van Dijk who has maybe two seconds.

She's caught.

Here come the sprinters, Vos is there and so is Hosking who comes through the middle. Has she gone too early?

And it's Hosking who takes the win for Wiggle. She holds off the rest of the sprinters and takes La Course.

Vos simply had too much to do, and even though Hosking went early she had enough in the tank to take a convincing win. Vos finished in third in the end. 

Lepisto was indeed third for Cervelo Bigla, Vos in third. 

Hosking : My team were incredible. We missed the first break but we had everyone on the front for that move. We never gave up and they protected me and put me in position. I'm so lucky. 

Hosking won that race because of her skill in the sprint. She picked the right wheels through the final few hundred meters and used the late attack from Boels as a marker to chase. Once she hit the front she created such a large gap that not even Vos could get back on terms. Impressive ride from the Australian and the Wiggle team. 

Here's our top ten for the day:

Thanks for joining us today. We'll have more reactions from the race later on today. Meanwhile you can enjoy our full report, results, and photos, right here.

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