Le Court wins Great Orme stage to take Tour of Britain green jersey
Kim Le Court won stage three of the Lloyd's Tour of Britain Women to the Great Orme in Llandudno, north Wales on 21 August 2026 and moved into the overall leader's green jersey. The AG Insurance-Soudal rider powered away on the final climb to claim the victory.
The 104.7km stage from Mold finished on the winding ascent of the Great Orme, where Le Court, 30, attacked with three kilometres remaining and completed the course in 2hrs 46mins 10secs. She crossed the line 13 seconds ahead of Germany's Liane Lippert (Movistar), with Sweden's Caroline Andersson (Liv Alula Jayco) a further seven seconds back in third.
Le Court, who led the race last year until crashing heavily in the rain on the second stage from Hartlepool, reflected on her approach after the win: "You can never be too confident," said Le Court. "Last year I took the green jersey on day one then on day two I crashed out, so we'll keep our head on our shoulders and keep fighting until the end."
The opening two stages had been taken by Lorena Wiebes, the SD Worx-Protime sprinter, who dominated both fast finishes but relinquished the overall lead and the red points jersey to Le Court. Wiebes, 27, finished the Great Orme stage 42 seconds down to Le Court on the day.
Britain's Lauren Dickson of FDJ United-Suez claimed the blue queen of the mountains jersey and now leads that competition by 12 points, while Belgium's Fleur Moors of Lidl-Trek remains in the white young rider's jersey.
The race reached Wales under increased scrutiny after the death of 19-year-old Fin Tarling during the Volta a Portugal a week earlier; Tarling was hit by a van that had strayed onto the course. His older brother Josh will take part in the three-week Vuelta a Espana Grand Tour for Netcompany Ineos which begins on Saturday. On the first stage, O'Shea Red Chilli rider Maeve Plouffe posted on social media that "there were cars from the general public coming at me from all directions, including one that nearly hit me on a roundabout", while also praising the overall organisation of the race.
Stage three top 10 were: 1. Kim Le Court (Mar/AG Insurance-Soudal) 2hrs 46mins 10secs; 2. Liane Lippert (Ger/Movistar) +13secs; 3. Caroline Andersson (Swe/Liv Alula Jayco) +20secs; 4. Femke de Vries (Ned/Visma-Lease a Bike) +21secs; 5. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den/Cayon-Sram) +23secs; 6. Lauren Dickson (GB/FDJ United-Suez) +26secs; 7. Mischa Bredewold (Ned/SD Worx-Protime) +28secs; 8. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned/UAE-L'IMAD) same time; 9. Eleonora Gasparrini (Ita/UAE-L'IMAD) +32secs; 10. Lorena Wiebes (Ned/SD Worx-Protime) +37secs. General classification after stage three: 1. Kim Le Court (Mar/AG Insurance-Soudal) 10hrs 18mins 26secs; 2. Liane Lippert (Ger/Movistar) +26secs; 3. Lorena Wiebes (Ned/SD Worx-Protime) +35secs; 4. Caroline Andersson (Swe/Liv Alula Jayco) same time; 5. Femke de Vries (Ned/Visma-Lease a Bike) +40secs; 6. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned/UAE-L'IMAD) +42secs; 7. Mischa Bredewold (Ned/SD Worx-Protime) same time; 8. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Den/Cayon-Sram) same time; 9. Lauren Dickson (GB/FDJ United-Suez) +45secs; 10. Eleonora Gasparrini (Ita/UAE-L'IMAD) +51secs.
Saturday's penultimate stage four is a hilly 138.3km race to Hay on Wye on the Welsh-English border and is expected to produce a fast finish if the sprinters can make it over the climbs.