Hosking is now taking to the top step on the podium, on the Champs-Élysées. Chris Froome will be following in her footsteps soon enough. You can follow the final stage of the Tour de France with me, if you so wish. Thanks for joining me. Bye!
A word with Chloe Hosking: “my team were incredible, I’m so lucky... Amy Roberts never gave up, and Audrey Cordon kept me safe in the final laps. I saw [Ellen] van Dijk pull away, went past her, and was waited for everyone else to catch me.” As we saw, they didn’t get close.
Race result
Hosking wins, with Vos third, sandwiched between two riders from Cervelo Bigla – an impressive effort, given that the team had just four riders in the race.
- Chloe Hosking (Aus); Wiggle-High5
- Lotta Lepisto (Fin); Cervelo Bigla
- Marianne Vos (Ned); RaboLiv
- Joëlle Numainville (Can); Cervelo Bigla
- Roxane Fournier (Fra); Poitou-Charentes Futuroscope
After those crashes, we’ve seen an ambulance taking one rider away to hospital. We’ll try and get an update, and obviously hope everyone caught up in those collisions is OK.
Chloe Hosking wins La Course 2016!
The 25-year-old Australian had too much for her rivals, even after starting her sprint early, and wins the bunch sprint in style.
Vos has recovered to get back into contention, and van Dijk can’t stay clear. Chloe Hosking goes early, but Vos is left with too much to do...
Two riders have gone clear late on, with the bunch sprint stalled by that last crash. Ellen van Dijk has made it stick, and the Dutch time triallist could stay out here...
Another big crash, this time at the front of the race! Not sure what’s causing these collisions, other than pure nerves at this late stage. The peloton is down to 25 riders or so, and there’s no sign of Marianne Vos, while Canyon’s Tiffany Cromwell is in contention. 2km to go...
One final turn around the Arc de Triomphe, with 4km to go. Marianne Vos, multiple world champion and race favourite, has worked her way forward in the peloton. Raboliv team-mate Lucinda Brand has eased up within the breakaway. Further back, a nasty-looking crash has ended Audrey Cordon and Marta Tagliaferro’s involvement in the race.
Boels Dolmans had a few riders caught by that crash, including Katarzyna Pawlowska. Stephens is still driving the breakaway trio forward, but the gap is down to a handful of seconds. Liv-Plantur are controlling the pace, driven by Sara Mustonen, with Italian team Ale Cipollini also in the right place.
The peloton are getting edgy, there’s a big crash as two riders touch wheels in the middle of the pack. Dani King is one of the women caught up in that collision; nobody seems seriously hurt, but those involved will struggle to get back. One lap to go!
Brand is struggling to last the pace that Stephens has set, with the Texan looking very comfortable at the front. The gap is still just ten seconds at the front, and Stephens asks Pieters and Brand to help her maintain the advantage.
The race passes the Arc de Triomphe for the penultimate time, with three riders now opening up a ten-second gap – Brand, Amy Pieters and US rider Lauren Stephens. This is a high-calibre breakaway that the peloton will want to catch; the UHC team are driving up the pace significantly.
A few riders try to make a move out of the bunch, with Eugénie Duval, of the all-French and hard-to-type Poitou-Charentes Futuroscope team, a surprise escapee. Vos’ team-mate Lucinda Brand has bridged the gap, the second time today she’s been involved in a breakaway.
Updated
16km to go, with the pace noticeably dropping as riders have a drink and ease off the pedals, before what’s set to be a blistering final 10km. Some of the bigger teams have a couple of options to win this race – Britain’s Wiggle High5 have sprinter Hosking, time trial specialist Dani King, and last year’s third-placed puncher, Amy Pieters in their ranks. The same goes for the Boels-Dolmans team:
Interesting seeing Boels on front- Majerus can win bunch sprints, Blaak an opportunist Classics-sprinter, & Van Dijk increidble ITT/attacker
— Sarah Connolly (@_pigeons_) July 24, 2016
Updated
Teams are beginning to jostle for position, with the pack bunching together and the pace dipping on the long run back from the Arc de Triomphe. Teams with sprinters in their midst are looking to control the pace until the final stages, while the strong time triallists in the field still have a couple of circuits to pull away, and prevent the likes of Vos, Chloe Hosking and Giorgia Bronzini from fighting it out among themselves.
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It may be the pace, the weather, or indeed the dynamics of women’s cycling, that is keeping the peloton strung out in this fashion. It could also be the smaller teams that feature here, with none of the favourites able to control the pace. In the wake of Team Sky’s latest domination of the Tour de France, it’s something that Christian Prudhomme has given due consideration.
Wiggle High5 have been front and centre in the peloton, and French rider Audrey Cordon tries to pull clear. Nobody able to break away, but the race is still stretched, with those at the back constantly battling to stay in touch. 27km, and four more circuits, to go.
Updated
One rider has burst a few yards clear of the pack – Kathrin Hammes of Team Tibco, who collects the sprint points at the end of the eighth circuit. She has little chance of making it stick, with the peloton still moving at a rapid pace. Last year, baking hot weather on the Tour was followed by a rainy finale in Paris, which also affected La Course. This year, it’s the other way around, as the rain seen in the Alps is replaced by sunshine in Paris.
Updated
The pack cross the finish line for the seventh time and head back towards the Arc de Triomphe, with 40km left to go. Large stretches of the route are cobbled, but that isn’t stopping the field from taking it on at a rattling pace. The peloton is stretched, but not splitting yet.
Updated
There are intermediate sprint points at the finish line on every circuit around the Champs-Élysées; we’ll keep you updated on the points race, in addition to the main race.
Now, who is Britain’s greatest ever cyclist? Chris Froome? Chris Hoy? Bradley Wiggins? How about Beryl Burton...
@niallmcveigh I saw a play in March based on the life of Beryl Burton., perhaps Britain's greatest sports person https://t.co/cVX10Y4f87 …
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 24, 2016
50km to go, with Wiggle High5 (that’s a team, not a kids’ TV programme) driving the peloton forward to absorb a breakaway with real potential...
Barnes, the current British road race champion (beating her sister Alice into second place), is setting the pace in the breakaway, which has a gap of 18 seconds now – Barnes, Brand, Blaak and Zabelinskaya. Name that breakaway, anyone?
A breakaway group has formed, including Barnes, RaboLiv’s Lucinda Brand, Boels Dolmans’ Chantal Blaak and BePink’s Olga Zabelinskaya.
The break of four riders #LaCourse pic.twitter.com/SVPZjKLXUC
— La Course by Le Tour (@LaCoursebyTDF) July 24, 2016
After starting at a gentle pace, the intensity is increasing on the race’s third lap, with Dutch team RaboLiv controlling the pack. RaboLiv have 2014 winner Marianne Vos in their ranks, along with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot – the home favourite and French national champion who has seen both her previous La Course races end in crashes.
The peloton are still grouped together in the early stages of the race; I’m picking this up via social media, as TV coverage is yet to start, and the official website isn’t offering live updates. Which, to be honest, is disappointing.
Amazing scenes on the #ChampsElysees #lacourse. Bunch all together pic.twitter.com/25Y6vBx9Xa
— La Course by Le Tour (@LaCoursebyTDF) July 24, 2016
Can a British rider emulate Chris Froome today? It was far more likely while Armitstead, who came fourth last year, was in the running, but there are a handful of UK participants – mainly in the Wiggle High5 team, although Lucy Garner, Danielle King and Amy Roberts are expected to work in support of the team’s two more famous names, Amy Pieters and Chloe Hosking. Elsewhere, Hannah Barnes rides alongside Cromwell in Germany’s Canyon team.
Even though today’s race is disappointly short at just 89km, and takes place on a flat street circuit, a bunch sprint is not inevitable – Van der Breggen won with a breakaway last year, although that race was left wide open by crashes that took half of the field out of the race. There are still riders capable of punching clear ahead of the finish, including Canada’s Leah Kirchmann and Australia’s Tiffany Cromwell.
They’re off, slightly ahead of schedule...
And they're off! #LaCourse pic.twitter.com/C7NimEmwX2
— La Course by Le Tour (@LaCoursebyTDF) July 24, 2016
Hello. Before the Tour de France finishes later today, it’s time for the world’s best female cyclists to take centre stage on La Course – an 89km road race with 13 circuits of the Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde. Unlike the men’s stage that finishes here today, this is likely to be lively from the outset.
Last year, Anna van der Breggen won a dramatic, rain-soaked race – the champion is sadly not here to defend her crown, and neither is Lizzie Armitstead, a late withdrawal in order to focus on the Olympics. There’s still a pedigree field in Paris, led by Marianne Vos and featuring strong sprinters in the shape of Giorgia Bronzini and Kirsten Wild.
Here’s today’s route map; the race gets under way at 12.15pm BST, 1.15pm local.
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