Kim Le Court Claims Historic Stage Win at Tour de France Femmes
Kim Le Court secured victory in stage five of the Tour de France Femmes, marking the first time an African rider has won a stage in the race. The Mauritian cyclist also took over the yellow jersey from Marianne Vos, who fell behind after losing contact with a breakaway group.
Le Court, representing AG Insurance-Soudal, was part of a seven-rider break that included several general classification contenders. The group pulled away from the peloton on the final climb before a fast descent to the finish in Guéret. Le Court narrowly held off a late challenge from Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) to claim the stage, with Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) taking third.
Defending champion Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM), along with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma Lease a Bike), Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceunick), and Le Court’s teammate Sarah Gigante, all gained over 30 seconds on Vos, who dropped to sixth in the general classification after finishing in the second group.
"We had a clear plan for the stage," Le Court told Eurosport. "If we stayed in a small group, we aimed for the stage win. The sprint was quicker than I anticipated, but fortunately, I had the fastest finish."
Le Court also credited Gigante’s presence in the breakaway. "Having a teammate made a big difference," she said, noting that hesitation among the leaders on the final descent could have allowed Vos’s group to catch them.
Le Court now leads the overall standings by 18 seconds, with Ferrand-Prévot in second and Vollering five seconds further back. Niewiadoma sits fourth, 24 seconds behind, while Van der Breggen is a second behind her in fifth, 10 seconds ahead of Vos.
As the competition intensifies, the riders will face the race’s first major mountain test on Thursday—a 123.7km stage from Clermont-Ferrand to Ambert, featuring four categorized climbs, including the Category 1 Col du Béal.
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