Chloe Hosking (Wiggle High5) wins stage 3 at Giro Rosa(Image credit: Sean Robinson/Velofocus)
Dani King leads the breakaway(Image credit: SWpix.com)
Amy Pieters (Wiggle-High5)(Image credit: Sean Robinson/Velofocus)
Wiggle High5 announced their six-woman team for the upcoming La Course by Le Tour de France with Chloe Hosking at the helm. The one-day Women's WorldTour race is set to take place on July 24 in conjunction with the finale of the Tour de France.
Hosking, who has taken two victories in WorldTour events; the overall title at Tour of Chongming Island and a stage at the Giro Rosa, will be one of the favourites on the start line, alongside a stellar field assembled for the third edition of the event.
"I think it's a bit of a different sprint, but I'm a bit nervous to be honest," Hosking said in a team press release. "I feel like there's a bit of pressure, so we'll see how we go with that. But I'm feeling really super strong on the bike right now, which is good because I had a bit of a lull in the spring, and I was disappointed in myself there, so I'm glad that I've put in the hard work and it's starting to pay off with my Giro win.
"I hope I can pull off another really good result for the team on Sunday, but it's not going to be easy. Marianne Vos is racing! She's just come off three stages at Thüringen. I think Barbara Guarischi's there, and Canyon-SRAM has an amazing lead out train…"
The 12th round of the series offers the women's field a high-speed circuit race along the famed city blocks of Paris, looping around the Arc de Triomphe and Place de la Concorde. It's a deceptively hard 89km, 13-lap race, held on a 7km course mixed of flat sections, uphill drags and cobbles that make it a tough one-day event.
Rabo-Liv's Marianne Vos won the first edition of the race from a sprint while her teammate Anna van der Breggen held off the bunch kick to win solo last year under the rain. Wiggle High5's Amy Pieters, who was racing for Liv Plantur last year, was third on the day.
"It's going to be a hard race and, also, with Anna van der Breggen winning it solo last year, it's not an easy race to control on the really wide roads and the cobblestones," Hosking confirmed. "I don't know what the team tactic is going to be - we'll talk about that on Saturday - but hopefully we can go in, and the team backs me again.
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"I was just looking at a podium photo from last year, and Amy Pieters was third! So I'm not the only card to play, and we'll just see what happens."
Hosking will be joined by Pieters, Audrey Cordon-Ragot, Lucy Garner, Dani King, and Amy Roberts.
Wiggle High5 for La Course by the Tour de France: Audrey Cordon-Ragot (France), Lucy Garner (Great Britain), Chloe Hosking (Australia), Dani King (Great Britain), Amy Pieters (Netherlands), Amy Roberts (Great Britain).
