The British cyclist Elizabeth Deignan celebrated a prestigious success shortly before the start of the 107th Tour de France. On Saturday, the 31-year-old won the one-day race La Course, which has been part of the Tour of France since 2014.
Deignan from Team Trek-Segafredo pushed past last year’s winner Marianne Vos (CCC-Liv) in the sprint on the last meters. Third was Vos’ Dutch compatriot Demi Vollering (Parkhotel Valkenburg). As the best German, 22-year-old Liane Lippert (Friedrichshafen / Sunweb) reached the finish line in tenth place.
Vos, multiple world champion and Olympic champion in 2012, is considered one of the best sprinters in the world. Deignan was all the happier to have left the Dutch woman behind. “I’m just relieved that I won,” said Deignan at the finish. Together with her teammate Elisa Longo Borghini, she got Vos to sprint early.
Good advice comes from the team car
“I also had the advantage of having two of the best sprinters in the world in the team car. Ina-Yoko Teutenberg and Giorgia Bronzini both beat Vos in the sprint. Their advice was to be patient. So I waited.” In the last few meters she was able to overtake Vos. Teutenberg and Bronzini are former cyclists, today they work as sports directors at Trek-Segafredo.
Meanwhile, plans for a women’s Tour de France are becoming more concrete. The tour organizer ASO is apparently working on a stage race in France from 2022. This is indicated by David Lappartient, the president of the UCI world association. “The ASO has assured me that they are ready. Whether the race will then be called the ‘Tour de France’ is still unclear. It is a big step forward in the development of women’s cycling,” he said the Dutch portal WielerFlits.
