Textbook Vos wins nail-biting La Course
PAU, France (CT) — La Course was textbook Marianne Vos.
Vos surprised absolutely nobody and while dropping everybody with an attack halfway up the final climb of La Course. She overcame longtime lone leader Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott) at the second to last corner to go to take her second La Course victory.
“I think we all knew [she would attack],” said Bigla’s Cecelia Uttrup Ludwig, third on the day. “Everyone wanted her wheel, I think, but she’s just super super strong. I tried to come as close as I could.”
Vos came to La Course off the back of four stage wins at the Giro Rosa, which bore a striking resemblance to her win in Pau. A solo breakaway move from Amanda Spratt was swallowed up by Vos’ late charge after an acceleration of such force that none could stay on her wheel.
This year’s edition of La Course looped five times around a hilly, circuitous 27-kilometer loop that will be used later in the day for the Tour’s stage 13 time trial. Highlighted by the steep Cote de Gelos, a pitchy 1.1km climb back up toward Pau with a 17% ramp just before the finish line, it was destined to be a course for classics stars – women like Vos, Anna van Der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans), Uttrup Ludwig (Bigla), and Lucinda Brand (Sunweb).
After an early move was swallowed up on the fourth lap, Mitchelton-Scott’s Spratt took it upon herself to make a play. With 30 kilometers remaining, an elite group containing Spratt, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, Uttrup Ludwig, and Brand was rotating well while van der Breggen’s Boels-Dolmans team chased behind. At 24km to go, Spratt took off solo.
Spratt’s lead stretched to 35 seconds as the peloton organized itself. Sunweb and Vos’ CCC team eventually led the chase, with occasional help from Trek-Segafredo. Multiple riders attempted to bridge across, including Vos and Brand at one point, but with Spratt’s teammate Annemiek van Vleuten patrolling the front none of the moves got far.
“I came out of the Giro Rosa with good motivation, and La Course was a good inspiration to give it an extra go,” Vos said. “The break of Amanda Spratt was pretty dangerous, so my teammates had to do a lot of work to bring it back. When I saw it came down on the climb, I knew I had a chance. I went and just had the legs to continue.”
On the final lap, the gap between Spratt and the reduced chase hovered between 10 and 25 seconds, and sat at 18 seconds with 5 kilometers to go.
As the race entered the outskirts of Pau, disorganization in the chase looked set to hand Spratt the victory, but a few long, straight stretches put the Australian back into view and reenergized the chase.
As she passed under the red kite marking 1 kilometer to go Spratt held on to just over 10 seconds. With the final climb coming, it was going to be close.
Vos, smelling the win, launched off the front of the field with 400 meters to go, quickly distancing Brand, who was on her wheel, and passing Spratt in the second to last corner. By the time she reached the finish line she had plenty of time to pull her sunglasses off and post up.
“My first La Course win was five years ago, to win it again now, on a different circuit, is a very special feeling,” Vos said.
La Course results
1 Marianne Vos (Ned) CCC-Liv 3:15:21
2 Leah Kirchmann (Can) Team Sunweb Women 0:00:03
3 Cecile Uttrup Ludwig (Den) Bigla Pro Cycling Team
4 Lucinda Brand (Ned) Team Sunweb Women 0:00:04
5 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA) CCC-Liv 0:00:06
6 Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) TrekSegafredo Women
7 Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Mitchelon-Scott Women 0:00:07
8 Soraya Paladin (Ita) Ale-Cipollini
9 Ane Santesteban Gonzalez (Spa) WNT-Rotor Pro Cycling
10 Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Boels Dolmans Cycling Team
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