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.
Read next
Andreeva's French Open victory highlights the impact of Martínez and women coaches
Conchita Martínez was describing her player’s journey to a maiden grand-slam title when Mirra Andreeva interrupted. Accompanied by officials and a staff member holding the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen, the new French Open champion entered the room to cause mischief.
Andreeva asked, “What is the best thing about working with Mirra
Lewis Hamilton confident he is nearing first victory with Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton believes a victory for Ferrari is possible following his second-place finish at the Monaco Grand Prix. The seven-time champion is determined to pursue Kimi Antonelli, the current Formula One leader who secured another win in Monte Carlo.
Driving for Mercedes, Antonelli dominated the race, maintaining his lead through
Hodgkinson: Shock loss will fuel my pursuit of 800m world record this summer
In a dramatic event in Stockholm, Audrey Werro recorded the fastest 800m time seen since the Cold War era, defeating Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson. Werro finished in 1min 53.98sec, marking the third fastest time in history. She now trails only Jarmila Kratochvilova’s 1983 world record of 1:53.