Britain’s Lizzie Deignan has won La Course with a stunning finish in Nice.
The 2019 champion Marianne Vos had moved into the lead with 400m to go, but Deignan chased down the Dutch rider to claim the victory with a bike throw on the line.
Deignan and Vos were two of six riders who broke away from the main group with 44km to go.
It is the 31-year-old’s second win this week, after victory in GP de Plouay in Brittany on Tuesday.
“I’m really relieved that I won it. What a great overall performance by the team. Every one of my team-mates did a great job today,” said Deignan.
“This is phenomenal because sometimes when you train hard and you don’t win, you get frustrated and then when it comes at last, you’re really relieved.”
World champion Annemiek van Vleuten led the elite group of six that pulled clear of the pack at the bottom of the Cote de Rimiez, along with Elisa Longo Borghini, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, and Demi Vollering.
As the sprint finish developed with 1km to go it seemed as though Vos, who out-sprinted Deignan for gold at the London Olympics in 2012, would come out on top again as she opened up sizeable gap.
However, Deignan anticipated her move and stayed in Vos’ slipstream before making her late dash for the line, with Demi Vollering of the Netherlands third.
This year’s event was a 96km road race starting and finishing along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice.
It was originally scheduled to be a circuit race along the the Champs-Elysees in Paris in July, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced a restructuring of the calendar.
More to follow.
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