Kim Le Court dismisses Tour de France Femmes GC expectations after stage win: ‘People remember winners’

Kim Le Court has secured the Tour de France Femmes stage victory she had been chasing so fiercely. The AG Insurance-Soudal rider spent the opening four days flirting with the yellow jersey, but once it slipped out of reach following the time trial and stage 5, the powerful Mauritian was able to join the decisive move in the finale of stage 6. In an eight-rider sprint, she was comfortably the strongest.

“It was a crazy day,” Le Court said when describing her victory. Winning the stage was already an impressive achievement, but it became even more remarkable considering that she had been forced to change bikes deep into the finale. “On the descent of the Col de Lalouvesc, heading towards the final climb, I had a mechanical problem. I had to change bikes and found myself a long way back, but my team was incredible and brought me back.”

By the summit of the final climb, Le Court had returned to the front of the peloton, and she immediately tried to make the most of the situation. “I tried to remain patient and recover a little from the huge effort I had made during the chase. Eventually, Riejanne Markus of Lidl-Trek and I managed to bridge across to the six-rider breakaway.”

With Le Court’s sprinting ability, that was an excellent position to be in. However, the newly formed group of eight barely cooperated, allowing the peloton containing the general-classification contenders to close to within half a minute. “I decided to attack and managed to open a small gap, but Elisa Longo Borghini closed it. After that, I expected Markus to attack because going solo was the only way she could win.”

After Longo Borghini’s effort, Le Court knew she had to take responsibility herself, so she led the chase that brought the group back to Markus. “I do not understand how I still had a sprint left after that because I was right on my limit. It was extremely hard, and I had almost given up hope, but I could not do that after the enormous effort my team had made for me today.”

“The team really needed this,” Le Court stressed, admitting that she had not felt like herself during stages 4 and 5. “I had been struggling since the time trial, but winning a stage at the Tour de France is incredibly special. Of course, the team has further ambitions, but ultimately, people remember the stage winners rather than the riders who finish inside the top five.”

Le Court nevertheless sits ninth overall after the sixth stage, meaning that further progress in the general classification remains a realistic possibility. She is only around 45 seconds behind the top five. Sports director Jolien D’Hoore also underlined that point: “We came here with major ambitions: to win a stage and aim for the best possible general-classification result. So far, things are going well, although everything had not quite fallen into place for us before today.”

“Kim was very strong today, and this was a genuine team performance. Once she had made it back, I told her that she had to win the stage. She fully committed to it and was incredibly strong,” D’Hoore said. “Should Kim have another good day over the coming stages, we will definitely try to win another one, although it would also be nice to see her move a few positions higher in the general classification.”