Dutch dominance of the 2019 UCI Women’s World Tour continued with Marianne Vos (NED) taking her second win in the six editions of the one-day La Course by Le Tour de France in Pau (FRA).
Early breakaways were reeled in and on the last of the five laps of the course, another group tried to break off, including two-time defending champ Annemiek van Vleuten (NED), Amanda Spratt (AUS), Lucinda Brand (NED), Ashleigh Moolman (RSA) and Dane Cecile Uttrup Ludwig.
Spratt then attacked, but the other racers closed in and as the race neared the finish, Vos had moved up into position to sprint and no one could catch her. Spratt faded to 24th in the mass finish that followed; Vos won by three seconds and the next 29 riders followed runner-up Leah Kirchmann (CAN) en masse.
Vos won the first Le Course race back in 2014 and has now won two of the six races held. It’s Vos’s second race win of the season, to go along with five other stage wins (four in the Giro Rosa). Van Vleuten, the seasonal leader, ended up seventh.
Dutch women have now won 10 of the 15 races on the World Tour this season, with eight races remaining. Summaries:
UCI Women’s World Tour/La Course by Le Tour de France
Pau (FRA) ~ 19 July 2019
(Full results here)
Final Standings (121 km): 1. Marianne Vos (NED), 3:15:20; 2. Leah Kirchmann (CAN), 3:15:23; 3. Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (DEN), 3:15:23; 4. Lucinda Brand (NED), 3:14:24; 5. Ashleigh Moolman (RSA), 3:15:26; 6. Elisa Longo Borghini (ITA), 3:15:26; 7. Annemiek van Vleuten (NED), 3:15:27; 8. Soraya Paladin (ITA), 3:15:27; 9. Ane Santesteban (ESP), 3:15:27; 10. Anna van der Breggen (NED), 3:15:27. Also in the top 25: 19. Katie Hall (USA), 3:15:33.
