Ann van der Breggen wins La Course by Le Tour de France after thirteen rain-soaked, crash-strewn laps

On a rain-drenched La Course by Le Tour de France that was littered with crashes, Ann van der Breggen, riding for Rabo-Liv, rode to victory on Sunday on the 89 km circuit race that looped around the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

The single-day women’s event was held in advance of the last stage of the Tour de France, and with all eyes on Paris as the Tour drew steadily closer, it was, as last year, a global moment to showcase some of the world’s best female riders. From the beginning, reports said, 26-year-old Lizzie Armitstead hoped to exorcise the disappointment of last year’s inaugural event, when she crashed out of the race. With the 2014 winner, Marianne Vos, not defending her title at this year’s ride, the opportunity was certainly there.

In the end, though, that possibility eluded Armitstead, following a win that belonged firmly to van der Breggen, who finished the race with a time of 2:05:01. Finishing second, just one second behind, was Jolien D’hoore, riding for Wiggle Honda, with Team Li-Plantur’s Amy Pieters crossing the start-finish line in third position.

Armitstead crossed the line with a strong performance, though, ending the race in fourth position.

A day loaded with aggressive attacks and breakaways, the race left the course in a state of crash-strewn chaos at times. One of those downed riders was Shelley Olds, whose performance at B.C. Superweek this month saw her take a medal in every event. On the cobbled section of La Course, the Ale Cippolini rider crashed, costing her a podium position — and it was the second such instance during the race for the Gilroy, Calif. rider. With her rear derailleur lost after the collision, her chase to catch up fell short, with the powerful sprinter forced to pull over.

Olds ended the race with a DNF, while Canada’s Leah Kirchmann finished in 59th position, 0:02:37 behind van der Breggen.

Several such incidents marked the race, with attempted attacks failing to stick due to the slick, slippery road conditions after a downpour fell over Paris. Many of the riders who crashed out lost control in turns. With Orica’s Gracie Elvin making the first successful attack, resulting in a 17-second advantage, a series of team efforts followed, with various teams — Boels Domans, Optum, Hitec Products, and Wiggle-Honda — driving the race from the front of the field as attacks alternated throughout the last 42 km.

As the bell rang to mark the race’s last lap, though, Bigla Pro Cycling was the team out front. Rabo-Liv’s van der Breggen continued to make attacks that gained a few seconds on the field, with her teammates disrupting the pace of other sprinters. Not long after, Boels Dolmans was at the lead of the pack , trying to pull back van der Breggen, with the race’s final kilometres seeing second after second added to van der Breggen’s lead.

At the race’s conclusion, with one more crash in the last corner, van der Breggen claimed victory by a single second.

“We had a good plan, ” Van der Breggen said, as reported by the BBC. “We said we would attack in the last lap. It’s hard when you have the peloton chasing you. This is one of the biggest races I have won with so many people here. It was a hard and beautiful race.”

After the race’s 13 laps were done, though, Armitstead’s displeasure with the race’s outcome was evident.

“I’m disappointed for my teammates. We rode a good race; I just wasn’t fast enough at the end,” she said.