Demi Vollering sprints from small group to win La Course by Le Tour de France

Demi Vollering (SD Worx) outkicked a select group to win La Course by Le Tour de France.

The Dutchwoman was lead out by teammate Anna van der Breggen before rounding Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) to take her first La Course title. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope) edged into second, Vos took third.

The victory sees Vollering continuing her stellar first season for Team SD Worx. The 24-year-old won Liège-Bastogne-Liège earlier this year and placed second at both Amstel Gold and Brabantse Pijl.

“I was not expecting that today,” Vollering said. “Because Anna made so much speed she forced Marianne to go, and I could go in her slipstream and come over her. It gives me a lot of confidence for the future.”

The win is yet another trophy in SD Worx’s ever-swelling collection, and the super-squad again had a large role to play in how the race unfolded.

“We needed a hard race, and it was hard from the beginning so that was good for us. Niamh [Fisher Black] did a great job in the break, Chantaal [van den Broek Blaak] was always on the front – and Anna of course in the end, it was really good teamwork, so it’s super cool I could finish it off,” Vollering said.

Defending champion Lizzie Deignan was distanced by a flurry of attacks in the hilltop finish and placed eighth.

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Vollering was one of a large group of favorites that hit the base of the 3km hilltop finish together after a tense start to the race.

Canyon SRAM started the attacks with Tiffany Cromwell and Katarzyna Niewiadoma that split down the group and saw Deignan stuggling to hold the wheels.

Uttrup Ludwig, van der Breggen, and Grace Brown (BikeExchange) were the first to counter the initial attacks before sprint threat Vos made contact with the front of the race to form the eight-rider group that went on to contest the final sprint.

Van der Breggen wound up the pace as all eyes rested on Vos for the dragging sprint to the line. The Jumbo-Visma captain marked van der Breggen’s wheel and accelerated first.

However, with Vollering sitting in her slipstream as the gradient eased, Vos couldn’t match her young countrywoman’s final kick as she ripped across the finishline.

Jumbo-Visma reels in star-studded breakaway

The opening half of the race saw breakaways struggle to go clear as several top teams kept attacks on a leash.

Brodie Chapman (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope) and Mikayla Harvey (Canyon-SRAM) forced the race’s key selection at around 30km to go, splitting out a strong group that swelled and shrank as riders darted across to the peloton. Eventually a power-packed break of 11 riders formed at the front, including Chapman, Harvey, Brown, Kristen Faulkner (Tibco-SVB), Ruth Winder (Trek Segafredo), Leah Thomas (Movistar), Anna Hendersen, Niamh Fisher Black (SD Worx).

The attacks started flying out of the group of favorites behind the break on the penultimate climb of the Fosse Aux Loups, with Uttrup Ludwig and Evita Muzik both attempting to bridge to the attackers.

Jumbo Visma ramped up the pace in the peloton heading into the final 10km as it played its cards on Vos rather than breakaway teammate Anna Hendersen.

Vos’ wrecking crew pulled back the escapees just one kilometer ahead of the hilltop finish as Canyon-SRAM, Bike Exchange and Trek-Segafredo elbowed toward the front to set up the final fight for the line.

However, with SD Worx still packing numbers, it proved to be Vollering and van der Breggen that would make it count.