[ 04 ] FORCE OF LA COURSE

The announcement at the Tour route presentation last October that the 2017 La Course would scale the Col d’Izoard was not greeted with unanimous enthusiasm. Launched in 2014 as a race for female pros on the day, and Champs-Élysées finishing circuit where the Tour de France peloton completes its three-week odyssey, La Course was widely criticised as a token gesture that would do little to boost the profile of women’s cycling. Three years on, the decision to mimic one of the men’s mountain stages, or at least its finale, was met with a mixed reaction. Megan Guarnier, the 2016 Women’s WorldTour winner, was among those to applaud the switch as a step in the right direction; other riders such as Dani King and Molly Weaver expressed their disappointment at both the length of La Course, just 67km, and ASO’s unwillingness or inability to extend the event to multiple days. Whatever the wider ramifications, we can at least look forward to an exciting race, as per recent examples of short, sharp stages in the mountains in the men’s and women’s sport. Guarnier’s favourable view of the route change is perhaps no surprise given that she is a good bet to triumph atop the Izoard.