July 19/19 8:39 am - La Course: Kirchmann 2nd

Posted by Editoress on 07/19/19
 

A year after Annemiek van Vleuten pipped Anna van der Breggen at the finish in Le Grand-Bornand, La Course by le Tour delivered another thrilling finish that saw the race get turned on its head metres before the line. Just when Australian Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton-Scott) thought she had it in the bag after a long solo breakaway, she was caught and overtaken by CCC Liv's Marianne Vos with 350 metres to go, at the top of the final wall. The 32-year-old Dutch rider's attack made it look like the rest of the peloton was standing still. The three-time world champion, who had a win in 2014, is the winner of the sixth edition of the event, held on the same circuit around Pau as the Tour de France time trial over a distance of 121 kilometres.

Eleven women in the early breakaway
121 competitors took the start in Pau. An early breakaway formed on the first of five laps of the undulating circuit: Alexandra Manly, Sarah Roy (Mitchelton–Scott), Karol-Ann Canuel (Boels–Dolmans), Jeanne Korevaar (CCC Liv), Elise Chabbey, Nikola Noskova (Bigla), Alexis Ryan (Canyon SRAM Racing), Liane Lippert (Sunweb), Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Trek–Segafredo), Evita Muzic (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) and Jasper de Vuyst (Parkhotel-Valkenburg). The eleven-woman's advantage peaked at 1:50 around the halfway point.

Van Vleuten lights the race
With 47 kilometres remaining, two-time winner Annemiek van Vleuten (Mitchelton–Scott) made the first serious move with a vicious attack on the third ascent of the Côte de Gelos (1.1 km at 7.8%), one of the two climbs on the circuit. The Dutch rider's offensive spelled doom for the escapees, who were caught a kilometre down the road. Attacks then continued at the front of the peloton until a five-woman group managed to open up a gap: Amanda Spratt (Mitchelton–Scott), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (CCC Liv), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Sunweb), Soraya Paladin (Ale Cipollini) and Lucinda Brand (Sunweb). Spratt, who finished third in the last Giro, was alone at the front with a 15-second margin going into the final lap.

Spratt puts on a show
The gap increased after the last ascent of the Côte de Gelos, reaching 30s with 15 kilometres to go. It was then that Lucinda Brand and big favourite Marianne Vos jumped from the peloton. Van Vleuten soon latched onto the duo to cover for teammate Amanda Spratt. The Australian went over the final climb of the day, the Côte d'Esquillot, with 15s to spare and 12 kilometres to go. The peloton chased, but never quite organized as the rider from Down Under entered the final kilometre with around 10 seconds on the chasers. Fans were on the edge of their seats.

Vos crushes the opposition
With a length of 70 metres and a gradient of 17%, the final wall is as steep as it is short, and Marianne Vos used it as a launch pad for a decisive attack. The Olympic champion and three-time world champion caught Spratt with 350 metres to go and comfortably took the win ahead of Canada's Leah Kirchmann (Sunweb) and Denmark's Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Bigla). It was Vos's second triumph in La Course, coming five years after claiming the inaugural edition on the Champs-Élysées. She is now level with Van Vleuten, who finished seventh and was the only rider with two victories in the race until this morning. A new chapter in the legend of Marianne Vos.

This is Kirchmann's second time on the podium at La Course having finished third in 2014 when Vos also won.