PARIS -- Marianne Vos of the Netherlands has won the inaugural women's version of the Tour de France on Sunday, an 88.5 km circuit on the famous cobblestones of Paris'Champs-Elysees.
The Rabobank-Liv team rider said after the race "my team was upfront all the time -- we were in every breakaway so I could stay relaxed. It gave me extra motivation to be there in the final sprint and to push maximum power."
Vos' teammate Kirsten Wild finished second and Leah Kirchman of Canada was third.
In this first edition of "La Course by le Tour de France," 120 women from 20 teams raced thirteen laps of Paris' broad tree-lined boulevard for a prize of (euro)22,500.
