'I was on the limit' - Le Court claims 'crazy' Tour win after dramatic comeback
After narrowly missing out on a stint in the yellow jersey earlier in the week, Kim Le Court made amends by claiming a dramatic victory on stage 6 of the Tour de France Femmes in Tournon-sur-Rhône.
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The AG Insurance-Soudal rider looked to be out of the running when she suffered a mechanical issue ahead of the Côte de Boucieu-le-Roi in the finale, but she fought her way back to the peloton and then bridged across to the break.
“The race was crazy,” Le Court said. “I had a mechanical on the downhill before the last climb, and I had to change bikes. I was really far back, but my team was amazing. They brought me back slowly but surely to the bunch. I got back on top of the last climb, which was a really big effort.
“Then I just tried to stay patient, tried to recover from this big effort. Riejanne Markus and I, bridged to the breakaway, and when got to the front, they were not really cooperating, which is obvious, but I was happy to just still try.”
In a tense and tactical finale, Le Court attempted to forge clear alone and she also shut down a late move from Riejanne Markus (Lidl-Trek) before unleashing a perfectly timed sprint to take the honours.
“I don’t know what to say,” Le Court said. “I also got a gap in the last few kilometres and Elisa [Longo Borghini] closed me down. When Riejanne Markus made an attack from the back, I knew it was going to happen, because that’s the only way she can win a race like this and I had to close the gap myself and I was really, really dead. I was on the limit.”
Despite her earlier exertions, Le Court had just enough in the tank to win the sprint from Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech). It was the second Tour Femmes stage win of her career following her triumph in Guéret a year ago.
“I can’t believe I still had the legs to sprint, it was really hard,” Le Court said. “It was really this close before I could give up. But I will never give up after this big effort my team did.”
The Mauritian champion dropped to 15th overall in Tuesday’s individual time trial but she has now moved back into the top ten on GC thanks to her showing here. Ahead of the Tour Femmes’ visit to Mont Ventoux, she lies ninth overall, 3:26 behind yellow jersey Marlen Reusser (Movistar).
“I think the team needed it, you know,” Le Court said of the win. “I’ve been really struggling since the TT day and I think this really makes our Tour. Of course, we’ve got GC ambitions, but winning a stage in a Tour de France is very special. People don’t really remember top ten or top five riders in Tour, but they do remember stage winners.”
Result: Tour de France Femmes stage 6
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