OTLEY'S Lizzie Armitstead was content after finishing fourth as Anna van der Breggen held off a charging peloton to win the second edition of La Course by Le Tour.

A daring solo escape saw Dutchwoman Van der Breggen (RaboLiv) triumph in the women's race which precedes the final stage of the men's Tour de France, which was punctuated by crashes and took place in torrential rain.

Armitstead (Boels-Dolmans) was fourth, with Jolien D'Hoore (Wiggle Honda) second and Amy Pieters (Liv-Plantur) third.

"Anna made the perfect move at the right time," Armitstead said.

"She has the French world champion (Pauline Ferrand-Prevot) and the teams watched her instead. Credit to Anna.

"We really missed Ellen van Dijk in the end. She had a bad crash and she would have been able to close that.

"I felt very comfortable all day. I wasn't really under pressure and I was happy to stay up front.

"I'm disappointed in my sprint. I thought I would have had more. I'm sure it will come back."

Armitstead had been hoping to banish the memories of the inaugural La Course by Le Tour, which was won by Marianne Vos, when she was barged into the barriers and crashed out of contention.

She was satisfied to come through the race unscathed.

"(It was) very dangerous," Armitstead said.

"I'm just happy I've come away not like last year. We had a few crashes in the team but I think everyone's okay."