Annemiek van Vleuten wins La Course in Marseille less than year after horror crash in Rio

ByEurosport

Updated 22/07/2017 at 14:37 GMT

Annemiek van Vleuten comfortably won stage two of La Course ahead of Lizzie Deignan as she dominated the pursuit race in Marseille.

Elisa Longo Borghini of Italy and Wiggle High5 (L), Annemiek van Vleuten of The Netherlands and Orica - Scott (C) and Elizabeth Deignan of Great Britain and Boels Dolmans.

Image credit: Eurosport

It marks a remarkable recovery for the Dutchwoman who came off her bike and suffered three fractures in her back after leading the women's road race with only 10km left at the Rio Olympic Games last August.

Annemiek van Vleuten clinches dominant La Course victory

Van Vleuten started with an advantage of 43 seconds over Deignan after Thursday's opening stage on the Col d'Izoard, but won by one minute and 50 seconds from the British national champion.

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That allowed Van Vleuten to ease up before the finish line and soak up the atmosphere in the Stade Velodrome after a 22.5 kilometre race around the city.

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In this revamped event, the riders started in intervals according their times gaps on the opening stage.

Deignan chose to wait for Wiggle High5's Elisa Longo Borghini and her Boels-Dolmans team-mate Megan Guarnier in the hope that together the three of them could chase down Van Vleuten.

Annemiek van Vleuten of The Netherlands and Orica - Scott celebrates as she crosses the line to win during stage two of La Course 2017 on July 22, 2017 in Marseille.

Image credit: Eurosport

But in doing so Deignan conceded almost a minute to Van Vleuten and there was no way back against the three-time Dutch national time trial champion.