La Course by Le Tour de France 2021

Demi Vollering wins La Course by le Tour de France

La Course by Le Tour de France - As it happened

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.

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La Course by Le Tour de France, originally scheduled to take place on circuits at Mûr-de-Bretagne on June 27, was shifted to June 26 and a route similar to that of the Tour de France stage 1 from Brest to Landerneau.

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.

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

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.

Teams

• Movistar Team
•  Trek-Segafredo Women
•  Alé BTC Ljubljana
•  Canyon SRAM Racing
•  FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope
•  Liv Racing
•  Team BikeExchange
•  Team DSM
•  SD Worx
•  Team Jumbo-Visma Women
•  Team Arkéa Samsic
•  A.R. Monex Women's Pro Cycling Team
•  Bizkaia Durango
•  Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling
•  Drops - Le Col s/b TEMPUR
•  Massi - Tactic Women Team
•  Parkhotel Valkenburg
•  Rally Cycling Women
•  Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime Women Cycling
•  Team TIBCO - SVB
•  Top Girls Fassa Bortolo