Demi Vollering wins La Course by le Tour de France

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Demi Vollering (Team SD Worx) has 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.

A strong breakaway of twelve riders was caught with only five kilometres to go, and the race came down to the final ascent of the Côte de la Fosse aux Loups. After several attacks, a group of eight came onto the finishing straight together, and world champion Anna van der Breggen (Team SD Worx) opened up the sprint early.

“It almost went wrong because Vos was going all the way to the right and I was boxed in a bit. Anna made the speed and forced Marianne to go already. Then I could go in Marianne’s slipstream and come over her,” Vollering said of the finish.

“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,” she added.

How it unfolded

After an aggressive start with many attacks, local riders Cédrine Kerbaol (Team Arkéa) and Noémie Abgrall (Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime) got away separately, but Abgrall never made it to Kerbaol. Elena Pirrone (Valcar-Travel & Service) had more luck, bridging to the front with 60 km to go.

The first time up the Fosse aux Loups, an attack by Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo) led to a group of eleven catching Pirrone, who had dropped Abgrall on the climb. They stayed about half a minute ahead of the peloton on the 14-kilometre lap, and Van der Breggen accelerated on the second ascent of the Fosse aux Loups, eventually catching the front group.

With two laps and 28 km to go, there were about 30 riders in the first group, and Ruth Winder (Trek-Segafredo) immediately launched an attack that brought about a group of ten riders, also including Niamh Fisher-Black (Team SD Worx), Brodie Chapman (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope), Juliette Labous (Team DSM), Mikayla Harvey (Canyon-SRAM), Grace Brown (Team BikeExchange), Anna Henderson (Jumbo-Visma), Sofia Bertizzolo (Liv Racing), Leah Thomas (Movistar Team), and Silvia Persico (Valcar-Travel & Service).

Kristen Faulkner (TIBCO-Silicon Valley Bank) and Tatiana Guderzo (Alé BTC Ljubljana) bridged to this group while the peloton slowed down as nobody would take responsibility for the chase. With 19 km left to race, the front group was a minute ahead, with Marta Lach (Ceratizit-WNT) in between in a doomed solo chase. When Chapman lost contact on the penultimate time up the Fosse aux Loups, this inspired an attack by Uttrup Ludwig who was followed by Van der Breggen, Vos, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM), Liane Lippert (Team DSM), and Soraya Paladin (Liv Racing). After reeling in Lach, this move fell apart again, and Évita Muzic (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) countered, staying ahead of the peloton for a while.

These moves had reduced the gap to 40 seconds at the start of the final lap, and eventually Jumbo-Visma took charge of the chase, with Canyon-SRAM also helping out. The gap shrank quickly to only 14 seconds at the 5-kilometre mark, and an attack by Brand meant that the front group was reeled in.

The final climb of the Côte de Fosse aux Loups saw a move by Tiffany Cromwell (Canyon-SRAM), preparing the following attack by Niewiadoma who took Brown, Uttrup Ludwig, and Van der Breggen with her. Paladin, Vos, Vollering, and Lippert got back on as the climb flattened out two kilometres from the finish, and shortly afterwards Uttrup Ludwig put in an attack. Van der Breggen chased her down with Brown in her wheel, but after the catch none of the three would drive the move.

Because of that, all eight were together again coming into the final kilometre, and after a short jump by Lippert that was neutralised by Vos, Van der Breggen started the sprint early, allowing Vollering and Uttrup Ludwig to come from behind and beat Vos to the line.