La Course: Lizzie Deignan beats Marianne Vos in sprint finish to win first title
Saturday 29 August 2020 12:31, UK
British rider Lizzie Deignan edged out defending champion Marianne Vos to win her first La Course title after a thrilling sprint finish in Nice.
Deignan's Trek Segafredo team mate Longo Borghini went long from the back of the leading group of six riders before Vos got on her wheel and looked like should would seal her third title in the race.
However, Deignan, who was out-sprinted by great rival Vos for gold at the London Olympics in 2012, dug deep to beat the Dutchwoman with a bike throw on the finish line along the Promenade des Anglais.
World champion Annemiek Van Vleuten had pulled clear of the pack at the bottom of the Cote de Rimiez with 44 km to go, with only five riders able to stay with the Dutchwoman over the climb.
The elite group worked in unison before a series of unsuccessful attacks in the final kilometres, before the sprint finish as Demi Vollering completed the podium.
La Course by Le Tour, featuring the best of women's professional cycling, is the curtain-raiser for the Tour de France which starts later on Saturday in Nice.
The women are still without a multi-stage Tour de France of their own, although support is growing to start one possibly as early as 2022
