Le Court wins Tour de France Femmes stage six after mechanical failure
Kimberley Le Court won stage six of the Tour de France Femmes from Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhone on Thursday after overcoming a mechanical failure that forced a bike change, and Swiss rider Marlen Reusser retained the overall lead.
Le Court, who now has two Tour de France Femmes stage victories in her career, crashed early in the stage and was forced to change bike 15 km from the end. She fought her way back into contention before the day's final climb and became part of a small eight-rider breakaway group 10 km from the finish. The 30-year-old launched a sprint with 300m to go to hold off Cedrine Kerbaol on the line, with Puck Pieterse finishing third.
The 153.4km stage was completed by Kim Le Court (Mau, AG Insurance-Soudal) in 4hours, 1 minute and 48 seconds. Cedrine Kerbaol (Fra, EF Education-Oatly) was given the same time in second, while Puck Pieterse (Ned, Fenix-Premier Tech) took third.
The remainder of the top 10 in the stage were: 4. Sarah Van Dam (Can, Visma-Lease A Bike) 5. Celia Gery (Fra, FDJ United-Suez) 6. Liana Lippert (Ger, Movistar). 7. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita, UAE Team L'Imad) +2secs 8. Riejanne Markus (Ned, Lidl-Trek) +5secs 9. Dominika Wlodarczyk (Pol, UAE Team-L'imad) +28secs 10. Noemi Ruegg (EF Education-Oatly).
Tour de France Femmes general classification after stage six reads: 1. Marlen Reusser (Swi/Movistar) 19hrs 43mins 34secs 2. Demi Vollering (Ned/FDJ–Suez) +12secs 3. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol/Canyon–SRAM) +1min 17secs 4. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita/UAE Team-L'imad) +2min 28secs 5. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger/Canyon–SRAM) +2min 40secs 6. Dominika Wlodarczyk (Pol/UAE Team-L'imad) +2min 54secs 7. Isabella Holmgren (Can/Lidl-Trek) +3mins 5secs 8. Cedrine Kerbaol (Fra/EF Education-Oatly) +3min 7secs 9. Kim Le Court (Mau, AG Insurance-Soudal) +3mins 26secs 10. Paula Blasi (Spa/UAE Team ADQ) +3min 51secs.
Le Court praised her team after the stage, saying her team was "amazing" during her bike change, adding: "They brought me back slowly but surely to the bunch, and I got back on top of the [second-to] last climb, which was a really big effort. "Then I just tried to stay patient and recover from this big effort. "I had to close the gap myself and I was really, really dead, I was on the limit. I can't believe I still had the legs to sprint."
Friday's stage seven, described as the queen stage of the nine-stage event, is 146.8km from La Voulte-sur-Rhone to the summit finish at the famous Mont Ventoux in the French Alps.