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Teams announced for 2018 La Course by Le Tour de France

By Cycling News

published 3 June 2018

Mitchelton-Scott, Boels Dolmans and Sunweb to start Women's WorldTour one-day race

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The La Course pursuit podium(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

Annemiek van Vleuten (Orica-Scott) in the middle of the La Course podium(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

Annemiek van Vleuten wins La Course on the Col d'Izoard(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

The 2016 La Course by Le Tour de France gets underway(Image credit: Sean Robinson/Velofocus)

The peloton passes under the La Course sign(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)

Organisers of La Course by Le Tour de France announced the 20 teams that will participate in the one-day Women's WorldTour event set to take place on July 17.

La Course returns to one-day format with race in the Alps

Van Vleuten: I don't see one-day La Course as a step backwards

Mitchelton-Scott will return to defend their title, after Annemiek Van Vleuten won the two-day event last year. Boels Dolmans, Sunweb, Canyon-SRAM and Wiggle High5 will also be on the start line.

In its fifth edition this summer, La Course returns to a one-day race that will be held in conjunction with the Tour de France stage 10 where the men will race 159km from Annecy to Le Grand-Bornand.

The women will race for 112.5km, starting in Annecy, and the route includes four ascents; Coll de Bluffy (1.5km at 5.5%), Côte de Saint-Jean-de-Sixt (5.5km at 4.9%), and then the Col de Romme (8.8km at 8.9%) and Col de la Colombière (7.5km at 8.5%) - before a 12km descent into Le Grand-Bornand.

The women's race will use a total of 78 kilometres of the men’s stage, with 28 kilometres between Annecy and Thônes then the final 50 kilometres between Bonneville and Le Grand-Bornand.

La Course started out in 2014 as a circuit race on the Champs Elysées. Last year, organisers ASO expanded the event to two days that saw a summit finish on the Col d'Izoard followed by a pursuit-style time trial in Marseille.

Van Vleuten secured the title after winning both stages. Past winners of the one-day editions include Chloe Hosking, Anna van der Breggen and Marianne Vos.