'I was in shock' - Kim Le Court takes unexpected yellow

Kim Le Court was already heading for her AG Insurance-Soudal bus after stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes when she was informed her presence was required at the podium. 

The Mauritian placed third in Quimper behind breakaway winner Mavi García and European champion Lorena Wiebes, and she hadn’t realised that the time bonus she picked up at the final was enough for her to take the yellow jersey from Marianne Vos.

“It was a bit of a surprise, and I was ready to just go cool down at my bus like a normal day,” Le Court said. “Then my team said, ‘Eh, we’ve got a surprise for you, you’re in yellow."

“I was in shock because I thought I had counted the seconds wrong, so I’m really, really surprised. I found out quite late, I didn’t even have to time to wash my face before going on the podium – a bit of a rookie…”

A rookie? Only in some respects. Le Court is in only her second season at this level, but the 29-year-old has established herself as one of the outstanding talents in the Women’s WorldTour peloton. She capped a fine spring with victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and she carried that form into summer with victory on the opening day of the Tour of Britain.

Le Court proceeded to push Vos all the way to the line in Plumelec on Saturday on the opening stage of the Tour de France Femmes, taking second behind the Dutchwoman in the uphill sprint.

Stage 2 in Quimper offered a similar finale, and Le Court was again to the fore despite suffering mechanical issues earlier in the stage that required her to chase back on.

Although García sprang an upset to hold off the yellow jersey group in the finale, Le Court was beaten only by the rapid Wiebes in the sprint two seconds behind. Crucially, Vos could only manage fifth, which means that Le Court, though on the same time as the Dutchwoman, moves into yellow on countback.

“I am extremely proud,” Le Court said. “I’m going to try to soak in the moment because you never know when it’s going to happen again, so I’ll try to enjoy it.

“I’m still going to take it day by day, stay calm, stay safe, and stick to the plan. We’ll keep our heads on our shoulders. Anything can happen and I’m just going to soak it all in. For us, our Tour is a success already. It’s the dream of every team and rider to have this jersey.”

Asked how long she could hold onto yellow, Le Court said: “I don’t know, I’m just going to take it day by day. If I lose it tomorrow, we’ll try the day after. It’s a long week, anything is possible.”