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Kim Le Court wasn’t even riding on the road 18 months ago. Now she’s leading the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and emerging as a genuine contender to win the race.
The AG Insurance-Soudal rider hails from the tiny African island of Mauritius and spent almost all of her 20s competing in mountain bike races, after her first attempt at making it as a road pro ended in 2016.
Since returning to the road scene at the start of 2024, Le Court has quickly grown into one of the strongest all-rounders in the peloton. She has won Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a stage of the Giro d’Italia and regularly finishes in the top-five or -10 of major one-day and stage races.
At this year’s Tour, her second successive appearance in the race, she’s stepped up even more: she went into yellow on stage two, and then reclaimed the maillot jaune after winning stage 5. In doing so, she became the first African to win a stage of the Femmes.
Thanks to the 26 bonus seconds she’s accrued, she leads the race by 18 seconds from Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. Could the 29-year-old Mauritian go all the way and win the race?
“I don’t really think too far ahead and take it day by day. Having it [yellow] on my shoulders is already a dream come true,” the affable Mauritian told the press after her latest success.
“Stage three was a dream come true and I was living it like it wouldn’t happen again, but now it is happening again so it’s really amazing. I try to enjoy it as much as possible.
“Going into the mountains, I don’t know how I’ll do against the pure climbers, but anything can happen. We do have a good card to play in the team and we’ll enjoy the moment.”
That card she references is Sarah Gigante, third at the recent Giro d’Italia. The Australian, five years Le Court’s junior, produced a wicked turn of speed on the final climb of stage 5 to tee Le Court up for the victory.
“Without her I wouldn’t have done what I did today,” Le Court said. “The main goal was to take bonus points, so to have Sarah and me over the top to carry on the pace really helped to stretch the group out.
“Whether or not I won the stage or came second, it didn’t really matter because I was still going to have yellow on my back. But she was fully dedicated – like the whole team was – and when you have a team like this you can’t give up.”
‘We’ve seen a few Tours on the women’s side that have been lost by seconds’
Kim Le Court is leading the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift after five stages (Photo: Getty)
The Alps are on the horizon, and stage 8’s summit finish at the Col de la Madeleine is expected to create significant time gaps.
Le Court, as she herself alluded to, is untested on such lengthy and punishing climbs in a road race setting, but she’s eager to take as many seconds as she can at this stage.
“We’ve seen a few Tours on the women’s side that have been lost by seconds so we’re really fighting for every second possible. You never know what will happen in the next few days, so today was very important,” she said.
“Last year was won by four seconds, so maybe today six seconds [plus an additional 10 seconds for winning the stage] will play off later on.”
Gigante, regarded as one of the best pure climbers in the field right now, is 55 seconds shy of Le Court. For the moment, though, she’s committed to her designated leader.
“It’s so exciting that Kim is able to pick up all of these bonus seconds along the way and come into the mountain stages with a headstart,” the Australian commented.
“I was able to be a leader at the Giro and that was super cool. Coming here with Kim as the GC leader, she’s doing so well and it’s a pleasure to work with her. Already to get a podium on stage one and then to take yellow, and then take it back after winning a stage, we’re definitely getting more and more confident.”
The big mountains, Gigante said, “are unknown because we’ve never raced up climbs over an hour long”. But the belief in herself and Le Court is absolute.
“It’s unknown but we’re also confident in what she can do.”