Advertisement

Lizzie Deignan finishes second in Col d’Izoard stage of this year’s La Course

Stage winner Annemiek Van Vleuten, second placed Lizzie Deignan and Boels Dolsmans - Getty Images Europe
Stage winner Annemiek Van Vleuten, second placed Lizzie Deignan and Boels Dolsmans - Getty Images Europe

Lizzie Deignan finished second to Dutchwoman Annemiek van Vleuten as the women’s peloton took on the Col d’Izoard in the first part of this year’s La Course by Le Tour.

Van Vleuten [Orica-Scott], who suffered a sickening crash at the Rio Olympics last summer when leading the race, attacked the lead group in the final 5km of the iconic climb, swiftly opening up a gap on the rest of the bunch.

After driving the pace on the front for a while, Deignan [Boels-Dolmans] clipped off herself and finished 43 seconds behind with Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini a further 40 seconds back in third.

The race – which is in its fourth edition but its first away from the Champs Elysées – ends on Saturday with a 22.5km 'chase' in Marseille, the starting order of which will be determined by today’s stage finish times. Van Vleuten will be first on to the course.

Lizzie Deignan of Great Britain and Boels Dolmans CyclingTeam prepares to ride on the first stage of the 4th La Course by Tour de France, a 67.5km stage from Briancon to Izoard on July 20, 2017 in Briancon - Credit:  Getty Images Europe
Lizzie Deignan and Boels Dolmans at the start line Credit: Getty Images Europe

This year’s La Course by Le Tour has attracted a very mixed reaction, with some of the opinion that the move to the Izoard was a good opportunity to showcase women’s cycling on one of the world’s most famous climbs. Others have bemoaned the fact that the stage was only 67km as opposed to the 180km which the men will cover later in the day.

Deignan admitted after finishing the stage that it all felt like a “bit of an afterthought” from ASO, the Tour’s organisers.

Most are of the opinion that the mountain stage, plus the ‘chase’ would be a good thing if it could form  part of a three- or four-day race ending in Paris on Sunday when a far bigger audience is watching.

“At first I was like ‘what are we a circus?’” Deignan told The Cycling Podcast earlier this week when asked about the format. “But then, having seen the success of the men’s Hammer Series [a new race series on the men’s calendar which was a surprise hit] it’s kind of potentially the way modern cycling is going.

“I’m a bit more open-minded than I was. I’m not that keen on doing a ‘time trial’ on a road bike. And logistics wise, booking hotels and flights, it’s a bit of a nightmare. How do teams know if you will be in the top 20? But we’ll give it a go.”