La Course - 'A bad day from start to finish' - Former champion Lizzie Deignan gives verdict on 9th-place finish
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Updated 26/06/2021 at 15:20 GMT
Lizzie Deignan gave a damning verdict on her own performance at La Course. The former champion endured a dismal race all in all, finishing way back in ninth. Illness has hampered the British rider's form this season and Deignan struggled to keep pace with the leaders. “I felt terrible. So I knew it was just about suffering and I just didn’t have it when I needed it," she said.
Vollering victorious after sesational La Course finish
Lizzie Deignan admitted she felt ‘terrible’ throughout her unsuccessful La Course defence in France.
The British rider was the defending champion and expectations were high that Deignan could produce another eye-catching performance – as she did last year.
But Deignan faded quickly in the final climb and the 33-year-old conceded it was a ‘bad day' all round for her.
“To be honest today was just a bad day from the start to the finish,” the 33-year-old said in a post-race interview.
I felt terrible. So I knew it was just about suffering and I just didn’t have it when I needed it. I didn’t have the finish like the girls in front.
Illness hampered Deignan early in the season and the Trek-Segafredo rider admitted she struggled to kick into another gear when she needed to.
“The form is there but today was just such a bad day that I couldn’t suffer enough to be there,” Deignan said.
“It’s frustrating but I think as a team we rode really well, we were represented in all the breakaways.
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La Course: 'It was an awesome race' - Vollering straight after sensational win
“The team looked after me really well, so it was just a shame I didn’t have the feeling to finish it off.”
While it was a frustrating day for Deignan, Demi Vollering powered to a scintillating victory at the one-day classic.
The Dutch woman needed a perfectly timed sprint to see off rivals Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Marianne Vos.
Vollering leaned on the support of her team-mates with Anna Van Der Breggen in fine form alongside her and the 24-year-old admitted she was surprised the race ended with a sprint.
"I was not expecting that sprint today,” she said.
I was really looking forward to it. It was an awesome race.
“It almost went wrong I was going all the way to the right and I stayed up and Anna [Van Der Breggen] made the move, she forced Marianne to go and then I went."
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