'I felt super strong' - Le Court assured in Tour Femmes yellow

Kim Le Court (AG Soudal-Insurance) produced an assured defence of her yellow jersey on the toughest stage of the Tour de France Femmes to date, and the Mauritian would extend her overall lead after placing third in Ambert on stage 6.

The race travelled through rugged terrain, including the category 1 Col du Béal and the Col du Chansert, but Le Court dealt comfortably with the climbing on the menu. Although Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) soloed clear on the Chansert to claim stage honours, Le Court nabbed bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint and the finish to move 26 seconds clear of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike) in the overall standings. 

“It could be better if I won the stage but I felt really good today,” Le Court said. “The goal was to control the race. At the beginning we kind of got a bit stuck with the big break so we kind of had to control the race from the start,  but we were preparing for that from yesterday anyway.”

The presence of Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) in the break compelled AG Insurance-Soudal to keep close tabs on the move. They reeled it in after the Col du Beal, and although Squiban punched clear on the Chansert, Le Court hoovered up the bonus seconds behind her. 

Juliette Labous (FDJ-Suez) clipped away for second place on the stage, but Le Court was a comfortable winner of the reduced sprint for third ahead of Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez), 1:13 down.

“It was just a matter of seeing if the legs were there, if I feel good, and then being looked after by my teammates, who were super like always,” Le Court said. “I couldn’t ask for a better team, they’re so dedicated to me and the goal. We tried to get the bonus seconds. There was already a rider up ahead so I could only get second place, which I did, and I felt super strong.

“In the final, we tried to close the gap to the front rider and get the stage, but we knew it was not going to happen, so I tried to take last few kilometres easy and recover for tomorrow. I got third on the line and more bonus seconds. A stage win would have been nice, but we keep yellow.”

Le Court has already been one of the season’s outstanding performers with her victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and her win on the opening day of the Tour of Britain, but her stage win on this Tour and her stint in yellow have elevated her still further.

“I saw so many flags and my name written on the road on the climbs and people screaming my name,” Le Court said.

“This has never happened for me before, I never thought that people supported me like this and today I really realised this. Knowing that I have supporters out there who like seeing me perform and achieve makes my heart happy.”