Deignan keen for tweaks to La Course

The 28-year-old Boels-Dolmans rider was comfortably beaten by Annemiek Van Vleuten, who set off 43 seconds ahead of Deignan on the 22.5km course in Marseille after winning Thursday's first stage by that margin.

In the revamped event, the riders started in intervals according to their times gaps on the opening stage and Deignan chose to wait for team-mate Megan Guarnier and Italian champion Elisa Longo Borghini in an attempt to chase Van Vleuten.

But the Dutch Orica-Scott rider – returning to action for the first time since leading the road race at the Rio 2016 Olympics – proved too strong and finished one minute and 52 seconds ahead of the chasing duo.

Deignan and Borghini then battled it out together in the sprint in Marseille's Stade Velodrome, with the Briton coming out on top.

And despite finishing on the podium after climbing the gruelling Col d'Izoard, the London 2012 silver medallist believes race organisers still have some work to do.

"The format needs some work - I'm open minded to the concept but it needs tidying up," said Deignan.

"I thought of Thursday as a race but today was a bit of fun, although there do need to be changes in modern cycling – you've got to give the consumer something new.

"We got exposure today but it's not where it needs to be – behind the scenes, in terms of logistics, we were left wondering what was going to happen at times but I enjoyed the crowds, it's not something we get that often."

Sportsbeat 2017