La Course by Le Tour de France: The Women’s Race

Paris, City of Love and Ville des Lumieres will accommodate thousands of spectators on the 24^th July when the Tour de France takes its final bow for 2016. Road cycling enthusiasts will line the Parisian streets up to the Champs-Elysées for the final sprint. Running parallel, however, is the 3^rd edition of La Course by Le Tour de France, the prestigious women’s race.

La Course by Le Tour de France is a one day race for the strongest professional female cyclists in the field. A peloton of the best women in road cycling will battle for first place over a challenging 89km. Racing through the Champs-Elysées on the eleventh stage of the UCI Women’s World Tour, cyclists will be pushed both mentally and physically.

Introduced to the world of road cycling in 2014, La Course by Le Tour de France is new to the cycling world but has fast become an iconic race in the women’s pro cycling calendar. 2015 saw Dutch cyclist Anna Van der Breggen from the Rabo Liv Women’s Cycling Team ride to victory in the city; her team mate and fellow rider Marianne Vos taking the first La Course triumph in 2014. Unfortunately however, Anna Van der Breggen will not be racing La Course this year due to her having to pull out of the UCI Women’s Tour.

This year, the race is expected to be bigger and better with some stellar performances and inspiring action from road cycling’s leading women on wheels. The world will turn its eyes to Paris in celebration of the world’s greatest cycling event and the inclusion of women’s road cycling to Le Tour on the final day of the Tour de France.

Previous Winners:

1. Marianne Vos

   2014 Winner

   NED

   Rabobank-Liv Woman Cycling Team

   Cycling in the hills with cypresses along the road; how Italian do you want it..? #mipiace (photo© @BarbaraBarend)

   A photo posted by Marianne Vos (@mariannevosofficial) on Jul 8, 2016 at 7:07am PDT

    

2. Anna Van de Breggen

   2015 Winner

   NED

   Rabobank-Liv Woman Cycling Team

   No i'm not smiling.. Suffering during a hard time trial @girorosa #raboliv 2 stages to go✌️ – https://t.co/ipCtCzf0Mp

   — Anna van der Breggen (@AnnavdBreggen) July 8, 2016