Britain's Lizzie Armitstead, wearing the bright orange jersey of her Boels Dolman team, is back at the front of the peloton. 30km to go.

The peloton have upped the tempo, however, and that gap to Ellen van Dijk was quickly hoovered up.

All the riders are back together as they continue their circuits of Paris. Thunderstorms were forecast for today but, at the moment, it is a beautiful sunny day in the French capital.

Ellen van Dijk, the winner of the Tour de Flanders, is being chased by Charlotte Becker of Germany and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot of France, who are 15 seconds back. The main bunch, including world champion Marianne Vos, are another 10 seconds adrift.

Magnus Backstedt
Swedish cyclist on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"It's not like the men's race where riders are allowed to go on a break of up to 10 minutes. The women don't allow the break to have such a big lead."

There are 38km (or five laps) of the 91km (13-lap) La Course to go. Dutch rider Ellen van Dijk has opened up a 23-second lead. The rest of that early break, including Britain's Lizzie Armitstead, has been hoovered up by the main bunch.

Image source, EPA

Britain's former world time trial champion Emma Pooley is another rider excited at the prospect of riding in Paris on the same day as Le Tour.

The Olympic silver medalist has been campaigning to revive a women's stage race in France, which she won when it was last held in 2009.

She told BBC Sport: "On a scale of one to 10, I'd say that La Course is 11 on the excitement levels.

"It is great we get to show the world just how exciting women's road racing is."

If only the world could watch any of the race Emma!

It is being shown in 157 countries but getting real-time updates on La Course is proving tricky, and not just for me - it is the same for people in Paris too.

The race is not being shown on the giant screens that have been put up around the Champs Elysees to show the Tour de France, and journalists in the Tour de France press room were unable to see the start.

Image source, EPA

The first La Course is a big boost for women's cycling according to Dutch great Marianne Vos, who has won a total of 16 world titles on the road, track and in cyclocross, and was one of those who had been pushing for the event to take place.

"It's a big dream of us all to race on the Champs Elysees," Vos said. "The Tour de France is one of the most iconic, historic races in cycling and we'll be part of it.

"Let's see if this race can grow the sport - if there are more teams, more riders, the top level will get bigger and the racing will get even more interesting."

Image source, Jo Spencer

Jo Spencer:, external Great to see Lizzie Armitstead up front driving the break.

Magnus Backstedt
Swedish cyclist on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"Today is a fantastic opportunity for women cyclists to show off their race in front of the Tour de France crowds. Women's cycling is becoming more competitive. It's a different style of racing to the men but just as exciting."

Today sees men and and women race on the cobblestones of the Champs Elysees on the same day for the first time since the Tour de France and Tour Feminin were last held simultaneously in 1989.

And the world is watching, not just the thousands of fans already lining the streets in Paris. The event is being broadcast in 157 countries, although footage is seemingly not available in the Tour de France media centre.

You can listen to commentary from BBC Radio 5 live's Rob Hatch and Magnus Backstedt in Paris via the Live Coverage tab console at top of this page, assuming they can see the race.

Speaking of Lizzie Armistead, she is part of a group of 17 riders who have escaped the main bunch with eight of the 13 laps to go. French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prevot is also among the escapees.

Image source, @LaCoursebyTDF

There are some big names in La Course, including the Netherlands' world and Olympic road race champion Marianne Vos (pictured), Dutch sprinter Kirsten Wild and Italy's Giorgia Bronzini.

There are four British riders going for glory too - Lizzie Armitstead, Emma Pooley, Sharon Laws and Hannah Barnes.

Image source, @LaCoursebyTDF

Tradition dictates that everything but the sprint to the finish line will be a ceremony for Nibali and the 163 other survivors of this year's Tour (198 started the race) but, before they roll out of Evry at around 14:45 BST, we have got some real racing to look forward to - a new women's one-day race, to be precise.

The inaugral 'La Course by Le Tour' started at 12:00 BST and sees 119 riders take on a 13-lap 91km route around Paris. It was set up in response to a petition signed by more than 97,000 people that called for the return of the Women's Tour de France (aka the Tour Feminin or La Grand Boucle Feminin), which was last held in 2009.

Image source, AP

It started with a huge party in Yorkshire, 22 days ago. It will finish with a procession into Paris, in a few hours or so.

Image source, Caroline Rigby/BBC

The 101st Tour de France has been a truly memorable race, even if it will finish without some of the big-name riders who rode out of Leeds on 5 July.

There are just 137.5km (or 85 miles) of the 3,664km (2,277 miles) to go, and we already know who the winner will be: Italy's Vincenzo Nibali, who will enjoy his victory parade into the French capital as champion elect. The top of the podium awaits and, in truth, nobody has looked like stopping him from getting there.

Image source, AP