La Course 2021: All you need to know about the one-day race

La Course, by Le Tour de France, will take place on Saturday, June 26 with a 107.7km course from Brest to Landerneau over similar roads to the opening stage of the men's race.

The eighth La Course was originally going to be taking place on the route of stage two of the Tour which took in two passages of the Mûr de Bretagne but local elections have meant that the race had to be moved to the opening stage of the Tour de France.

The race used to take place on the Champs Élysées on the final stage of the Tour de France but the race has since ventured around the country taking in varying terrain with last year's race seeing Britain's Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) taking the win ahead of then-defending champion Marianne Vos (then CCC-Liv) and now Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner Demi Vollering (then Parkhotel Valkenburg).

The finishing circuit is designed to try and bring the same outcome as the originally planned route around the Mûr de Bretagne with a tough 14km circuit taken on three times with the short climb of the Côte de la Fosse aux Loups at 3km with an average gradient of 5.7 per cent.

The steepest gradient comes right at the end of the climb with a kick of 14 per cent that will likely be the launchpad for any attacks.

La Course, which is a UCI Women's WorldTour event, was originally added to the calendar by ASO, the Tour de France organisers, in 2014 to answer the growing demand for a women's Tour. 

The first three editions consisted of this kermesse-style race in Paris. In 2017, the event progressed to comprise of two days - the second being a 'pursuit' style handicap time trial.

Handicapping the world-class women's peloton in the style of a local league Thursday night race didn't go down so well, so in 2018 it was back down to just one day - held 48-hours after the final stage of the Giro Rosa.

The one day format remains for 2021 but it is unclear whether the race will continue as well as the Tour. The Tour de France Femmes has officially been announced the be taking place just after the men's race in 2022 over eight stages.

The women's Tour de France was also announced to be partnered with Zwift as the main sponsor as the race looks to build towards a big future in women's racing.

Joining the newly reinstated WorldTour race of RideLondon, which is now a stage race for the women as well as the Battle of the North taking place in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, it should be an exciting season in 2022.

La Course 2021 route, Brest to Landerneau (107.7km)

La Course 2021 is going to be a war of attrition on the sharp climbs that pepper this shark-tooth profile. At least 25 noticeable climbs on the profile with 14 climbs likely to cause issues in the bunch.

As well the route being vicious is also has a hilltop finish to really sap the legs right at the end of the day. Albeit, a very short day. But the fact that the race is short means that there should be explosive racing, even without riders like Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) who will skip La Course and the Giro Rosa to focus on the Olympic Games.

La Course 2021 TV guide

The race will be covered on Eurosport, GCN+ and ITV4 in the UK with Eurosport Player and GCN+ offering uninterrupted coverage from stage to finish.

La Course 2021: Past winners

2014: Marianne Vos (Ned) Rabobank-Liv Women Cycling Team
2015: Anna van der Breggen (Ned) Rabobank-Liv Women Cycling Team
2016: Chloe Hosking (Aus) Wiggle-High5
2017: Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Orica-Scott
2018: Annemiek van Vleuten (Ned) Mitchelton-Scott
2019: Marianne Vos (Ned) CCC-Liv
2020: Lizzie Deignan (GBr) Trek-Segafredo

La Course 2021 start list

Team BikeExchange

SPRATT Amanda
ROY Sarah
WILLIAMS Georgia
BROWN Grace
SANTESTEBAN Ane

Movistar Team

BIANNIC Aude
PATIÑO Paula Andrea
AALERUD Katrine
THOMAS Leah
GUTIÉRREZ Sheyla
MARTIN Sara

Team DSM

LIPPERT Liane
RIVERA Coryn
MACKAIJ Floortje
LABOUS Juliette
PEPERKAMP Esmée
KIRCHMANN Leah

Trek-Segafredo 

DEIGNAN Lizzie
BRAND Lucinda
CORDON-RAGOT Audrey
VAN ANROOIJ Shirin
WINDER Ruth
WILES Tayler

Team Jumbo-Visma

VOS Marianne
HENDERSEON Anna
KRAAK Amber
SWINKELS Karlijn
MARKUS Riejanne
KOSTER Anouska

Alé-BTC-Ljubljana

BASTIANELLI Marta
BUJAK Eugenia
GUDERZO Tatiana
TREVISI Anna
BOOGAARD Maaike
TOMASI Laura

Bizkaia-Durango

HOLDEN Elizabeth
ALONSO Sandra
BLANCO Iurani
GILABERT Ariana
FORTIN Emilie
CAMPOS Daniela

SD Worx

VAN DER BREGGEN Anna
VAN DEN BROEK-BLAAK Chantal
VOLLERING Demi
FISHER-BLACK Niamh
FOURNIER Roxane
NOSKOVÁ Nikola

Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling

LACH Marta
CONFALONIERI Maria Giulia
VIECELI Lara
RIJKES Sarah
ASENCIO Laura
HAMMES Kathrin

Canyon-SRAM Racing

NIEWIADOMA Kasia
BARNES Hannah
CHABBEY Elise
CROMWELL Tiffany
SHAPIRA Omer
HARVEY Mikayla

FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope

LUDWIG Cecile Uttrup
CAVALLI Marta
CHAPMAN Brodie
FAHLIN Emilia
MUZIC Évita
DUVAL Eugénie

Liv Racing

DEMEY Valerie
ROOIJAKKERS Pauliena
PALADIN Soraya
BERTIZZOLO Sofia
KOREVAAR Jeanne
STULTIENS Sabrina

Rally Cycling

KOPPENBURG Clara
DOEBEL-HICKOK Kristabel
FRANZ Heidi
POIDEVIN Sara
BRECK Holly
CLOUSE Katie

Parkhotel-Valkenburg

DE GAST Belle
LIMPENS Pien
BUYSMAN Nina
GERRITSE Femke
RAAIJMAKERS Marit
VAN BOKHOVEN Julia

A.R. Monex Women's Pro Cycling Team

RAGUSA Katia
TEOLIS Jade
SPEROTTO Maria Vittoria
MERINO Elder
GUTIERREZ Ariadna
RAMIREZ Andrea

Team Arkèa-Samsic

KERBAOL Cedrine
ALLIN Pauline
JOUNIER Lucie
FOUQUENET Amandine
LAURANCE Typhaine

Team Tibico-SVB

STEPHENS Lauren
DIXON Leah
HONSINGER Clara
ERATH Tanja
FAULKNER Kristen

Valcar-Travel & Service

PIRRONE Elena
PERSICO Silvia
MALCOTTI Barbara
PIERGIOVANNI Federica Damiana
ARZUFFI Alice Maria
SANGUINETI Ilaria

Massi-Tactic Women Team

KERN Špela
BARIL Olivia
TRIAS Mireia
COLJÉ Maaike
ESPÍNOLA Agua Marina
SANCHEZ HERNANDEZ Marta

Top Girls Fassa Bortolo

MONTICOLO Iris
BALDUCCI Michela
SILVESTRI Debora
MARTURANO Greta
DALLA VALLE Elisa
VETTORELLO Giorgia

Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime Women Cycling

LE BAIL Elodie
RÜEGG Noemi
ABGRALL Noémie
SQUIBAN Maeva
SOUYRIS Manon