Le Court makes history in Tour de France Femmes
When Kimberley le Court triumphed in the final stage of the 2024 Giro d'Italia she became the first female rider from Africa to win a stage on one of cycling's Grand Tours
- Published
Kim le Court became the first African to win a stage at the Tour de France Femmes, with her victory on stage five meaning she also took the yellow jersey from Marianne Vos.
Mauritian champion Le Court took a risk as she sat up to celebrate as she crossed the line in Gueret, but she held on to beat fast-closing Dutchwoman Demi Vollering by a wheel.
The 29-year-old was part of a seven-rider group that broke away from the peloton towards the end of the hilly 165.8km route, the longest stage of the fourth edition of the Tour de France Femmes.
She was the fastest finisher in the group and duly delivered, and now leads France's Pauline Ferrand-Prevot by 18 seconds, while Vos drops to sixth after finishing in a group 33 seconds off the pace.
Olympic road race champion Kristen Faulkner withdrew after crashing in the neutralised zone before the official start, the third successive day on which the American had fallen.
With four stages remaining, on Thursday riders will tackle the first mountain stage of the tour, a 123.7km route between Clermont-Ferrand and Ambert.
Stage five results
1. Kimberley le Court (Mau/AG Insurance-Soudal) 3hrs 54mins 7secs
2. Demi Vollering (Ned/FDJ-Suez) Same time
3. Anna van der Breggen (Ned/SD Worx-Protime)
4. Katarzyna Niewiadoma-phinney (Pol/Canyon-SRAM-ZondaCrypto)
5. Pauline Ferrand prevot (Fra/Visma-Lease a Bike)
6. Sarah Gigante (Aus/AG Insurance-Soudal)
7. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned/Fenix-Deceuninck)
8. Marianne Vos (Ned/Visma-Lease a Bike) +33secs
9. Evita Muzic (Fra/FDJ-Suez) Same time
10. Elise Chabbey (Sui/FDJ-Suez)
General classification after stage five
1. Kimberley le Court (Mau/AG Insurance-Soudal) 15hrs 7mins 14secs
2. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Fra/Visma-Lease a Bike) +18secs
3. Demi Vollering (Ned/FDJ-Suez) +23secs
4. Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney (Pol/Canyon-Sram-ZondaCrypto) +24secs
5. Anna van der Breggen (Ned/SD Worx-Protime) +27secs
6. Marianne Vos (Ned/Visma-Lease a Bike) +37secs
7. Pauliena Rooijakkers (Ned/Fenix-Deceuninck) +45secs
8. Sarah Gigante (Aus/AG Insurance-Soudal) +55secs
9. Puck Pieterse (Ned/Fenix-Deceuninck) +1min 4secs
10. Cedrine Kerbaol (Fra/EF Education-Oatly) +1min 16secs