La Course, 29 August 2020

[Libertine Seguros]

Looks like the sextet will stay away. Kasia starting to shirk turns, as she should given she has no chance from a sprint and is in the position of greatest weakness - ELB at least has Lizzie as a tactical weapon to use.

Watch Kasia now podium from the sprint because she looks in really good form and I've been making a point of how she has to attack as her sprint is so poor (she herself describes herself as not having a sprint, and "the way to win is always by attacking")...

 

[sir fly]

So, Longo Borghini should look for revenge attacking and Deignan should sit and wait for the sprint.
I suppose everybody else reasons similarily.

 

[Forever The Best]

@Libertine Seguros I would love to see a 1-day race or a stage around Rouen as well.

 

[JosephK]

Hard to bet against anyone in the group. I like Vos in these circumstances (I like the others, too).

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The logic would say that if Trek are going to pull the 1-2 trick, Elisa should be the one that attacks, yes.

Demi looks a bit spent, I think she'll probably settle for a sprint from here, and Kasia is probably going to go for broke if she has the legs for it.

One thing we do need to say, this is way better as an ad for women's cycling than it would have been if we'd gone back to the Champs Elysées like they wanted to originally.

 

[RedheadDane]

One thing we do need to say, this is way better as an ad for women's cycling than it would have been if we'd gone back to the Champs Elysées like they wanted to originally.

Yeah, looks like COVID did bring something positive.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

@Libertine Seguros I would love to see a 1-day race or a stage around Rouen as well.

A pure north route could be interesting actually, some hills around Rouen and Normandie, and then finishing with Mont Cassel and some cobbles around Roubaix.

I mean, it wouldn't quite fill the same void in the calendar as a real climbing race would as there are a lot of rolling-to-hilly races in the women's calendar, but the area around Rouen is underutilised, definitely. A lot of prospects for a course there that could generate some really good racing.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Vos now has Deignan continually hopping her wheel, and Vollering is desperately hanging to Lizzie's too. Those are the strongest sprinters in the group, so it makes sense, Annemiek and Kasia holding off at the back, are they picking their moment or have they shot their bullets? Kasia was in the first move too, remember.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Ah, here we are. Vos forced to turn, she forces Lizzie to turn, Lizzie sits up, ELB attacks. And now Annemiek! ELB struggling to stay with it, but through she comes! Back to status quo, ELB - Vos - Lizzie - Demi - Annemiek - Kasia coming into the final kilometre.

 

[sir fly]

Vos looks the sharpest.

 

[Pantani_lives]

It's a sprint now, Vos replied to both attacks.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Nice City
Nice Race

 

[Pantani_lives]

Deignan wins. Vos put a lot of effort in replying to three attacks and started her sprint quite early. Good sprint by Deignan.

 

[sir fly]

I think Deignan took it.
Excellent work by Trek.
Forced Vos, practically, into longer sprint than she wanted.

Well done.
Nice race.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

AVV attack! Niewiadoma follows! Vos & Deignan with her, looks like ELB and Demi dropped, but the latter two pull back on... Vos forces Lizzie to lead out, after all of Trek's work. ELB attacks, here comes Vos with her...

Great work by Elisa, she forced Vos to sprint from further than she wanted to, and Lizzie came back and j-u-s-t had enough room to get to the line first. And Demi takes 3rd, outsprinting Niewiadoma as is to be expected.

 

[RedheadDane]

Looked like Vos was gonna win by bike length.

 

[Laplaz]

Vos way too early

 

[JosephK]

A wonderful finish! Deignan gets the prize.

 

[Breezy1985]

Really thought Borghini had screwed Deignan by leading out Vos in the last 500m but Trek played it perfect

 

[Forever The Best]

A pure north route could be interesting actually, some hills around Rouen and Normandie, and then finishing with Mont Cassel and some cobbles around Roubaix.

I mean, it wouldn't quite fill the same void in the calendar as a real climbing race would as there are a lot of rolling-to-hilly races in the women's calendar, but the area around Rouen is underutilised, definitely. A lot of prospects for a course there that could generate some really good racing.

Maybe if there is another iteration of Criterium International in the future it can use that area.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

This was a great team win for Trek, though. Their chance was always going to be Elisa solo or Lizzie in the sprint, at least once Elisa's mistake on the descent took attacking there out of their options. The others knew that ELB had to do a lot of the work because Trek had the advantage of numbers, and Lizzie knew Vos' wheel was the one she needed, so once it became clear that neither Kasia nor Annemiek were going to go for a long one, she settled in for the long haul on Marianne's back wheel. They got into Vos' head, as you could see her freewheeling and trying to force Lizzie to take some wind, but every time she did, Elisa would attack and Vos was perhaps too quick to mark these rather than trust Annemiek or Kasia to do so.

Vos' counter was brilliantly executed, forcing Deignan to lead into the final kilometre, but they hadn't quite taken enough out of Elisa, so she could still make that last minute attack that Vos didn't have enough time to leave, she had to react to, and then when Elisa peeled off, it meant Vos was forced to sprint from too far out.

HOLY S*** DEIGNAN ACTUALLY THANKED ELISA FOR THE WORK SHE DID. Usually Deignan is a poor winner, only outdone by how poor a loser she is, so winning with a bit of humility (I know, it's easier to show humility in victory than in defeat) is a positive development.

 

[Orbit501]

The old 1 - 2 trick was so well executed by Trek there that it could be shown as a training video. Very nicely done.
Good race.

 

[Breezy1985]

What exactly is the rule on holding your line in a sprint
Deignan cuts across the whole field to get on Vos wheel so is it ok because see was far enough ahead of the other riders or far enough away from the finish ?

Im not trying to claim it was a bad sprint BTW. Im just curious

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Nice hors d'oeuvres that Salade niçoise

but when does the main Course start?

 

[gregrowlerson]

Nice finish. We got good free to air television coverage of it in Melbourne. Vos just went slightly too early.