Van Vleuten snags second straight La Course win

Annemiek van Vleuten rode to her second consecutive La Course by Le Tour de France victory Tuesday in the French Alps.

Two days after the Dutch rider won the Giro Rosa, she got back on her bike and climbed to the win in the 112.5-kilometer race that included four categorized ascents.

Van Vleuten (Mitchelton-Scott) was among a small group of riders navigating the descent off the Col de la Colombiere into the finish area in Le Grand-Bornand. Ashleigh Moolman (Cervelo-Bigla) got dropped on the downhill and it was down to two riders — van Vleuten and Anna van der Breggen (Boels-Dolmans). With just meters left in the race, van Vleuten surged ahead to snag the victory.

“It was unbelievable. With 300 meters to go I still thought I would get second and then I saw [van der Breggen] dying,” van Vleuten said. “To win like this … it was a tough ride, but beautiful.

“The gap going into the descent was really small and Anna is also a really good descender, but I always keep believing and keep on thinking that anything is possible and never give up. That was really important today.”

Van Vleuten finished one second ahead of van der Breggen, while Moolman was third at 1:22 back.

Van Vleuten said her victory was a special one.

“This win is really beautiful, the second time at La Course and especially coming only two days after winning the Giro Rosa, but to win this race in this way is really special and high up on my list of memorable wins,” she said.