Kim Le Court-Pienaar recovered from a late mechanical set-back to win a thrilling sprint finish in Tournon-sur-Rhône on day six of the Tour de France Femmes.
After being forced to swap bikes on the penultimate descent of the day, the AG Insurance-Soudal rider bridged the gap to join an eight-rider breakaway, and in the final few metres got her wheel in front, pushing Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) into second and third place respectively.
After a hot and hilly day in the Ardèche, on a long route that featured six categorised climbs, Marlen Reusser of Movistar remains in the yellow jersey, as Mont Ventoux looms on the horizon of tomorrow’s race-defining stage. But for now, the dust is still settling on a fast and frenetic day of racing.
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“The race was crazy,’ said Le Court-Pienaar immediately afterwards. “I had a mechanical on the downhill before the last climb. I had to change bikes and I was really far, but my team were amazing, they brought me back, slowly but surely back to the bunch. I got back on top of the last climb, which was a really big effort, and I just tried to stay patient, tried to recover.
“Riejanne Markus and I bridged to the breakaway. We got to the front and they were not cooperating, which was obvious, but I was happy to still try. I got a gap in the last few kilometres and Elisa closed me down. When Riejanne Markus made an attack from the back, I knew it was going to happen, because that’s the only way she can win a race like this.
“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, it was really close whether I could give up. I will never give up after this big effort my team did.
“I think the team needed this. I have been really struggling since the TT day and I think this really makes up… Of course we’ve got GC ambitions, but winning a stage at the Tour de France is very special. People don’t really remember top 10, top five, but they do remember stage winners.”
More to come…
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