MAURITIAN RIDER KIM Le Court-Pienaar overcame an early fall and mechanical problems to win a sprint finish for stage six of the Tour de France Femmes as Swiss rival Marlen Reusser retained the leader’s yellow jersey.
Le Court-Pienaar, 30, was part of an eight-rider breakaway group but pipped her rivals to finish ahead of France’s Cedrine Kerbaol and the Netherlands’ Puck Pieterse after the hilly 153km run from Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhone in south-eastern France.
🍿 A thrilling eight-rider finish! ⏪ Relive the final kilometre of Stage 6.
— Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) August 6, 2026
Reusser, 34, remains in overall control on the eve of the queen stage which finishes on the summit of Mont Ventoux in the French Alps on Friday.
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For the Mauritian champion, it was a second stage victory in the Grande Boucle following her win last year in Gueret.
For Le Court-Pienaar, it was a hard-earned victory. After crashing early in the stage, she suffered mechanical issues that forced her to change bikes just 15km from the finish line.
Alongside Dutch rider Riejanne Markus, she caught up to the six other breakaway riders shortly before the day’s final climb, 10km from Tournon-sur-Rhone, before then proving too strong in the sprint.
“It was a truly crazy stage. The team did such a great job positioning me at the front of the race that I couldn’t give up the fight,” the winner explained.
The overall race favourites finished in a chasing group 28 seconds behind the breakaway.
Reusser maintained a 12-second advantage in the general classification on Dutch rider Demi Vollering and a 1min 17sec gap over Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney.
Irish competitors Fiona Mangan and Mia Griffin were 89th and 117th across the line, respectively, over 25 minutes behind the winner.
Friday’s stage seven concludes at the summit of the legendary Mont Ventoux via the Bedoin climb over 15.7km at a gradient of 8.8%.
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'A truly crazy stage': Le Court-Pienaar overcomes fall and mechanical problems to win
MAURITIAN RIDER KIM Le Court-Pienaar overcame an early fall and mechanical problems to win a sprint finish for stage six of the Tour de France Femmes as Swiss rival Marlen Reusser retained the leader’s yellow jersey.
Le Court-Pienaar, 30, was part of an eight-rider breakaway group but pipped her rivals to finish ahead of France’s Cedrine Kerbaol and the Netherlands’ Puck Pieterse after the hilly 153km run from Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhone in south-eastern France.
Reusser, 34, remains in overall control on the eve of the queen stage which finishes on the summit of Mont Ventoux in the French Alps on Friday.
For the Mauritian champion, it was a second stage victory in the Grande Boucle following her win last year in Gueret.
For Le Court-Pienaar, it was a hard-earned victory. After crashing early in the stage, she suffered mechanical issues that forced her to change bikes just 15km from the finish line.
Alongside Dutch rider Riejanne Markus, she caught up to the six other breakaway riders shortly before the day’s final climb, 10km from Tournon-sur-Rhone, before then proving too strong in the sprint.
“It was a truly crazy stage. The team did such a great job positioning me at the front of the race that I couldn’t give up the fight,” the winner explained.
The overall race favourites finished in a chasing group 28 seconds behind the breakaway.
Reusser maintained a 12-second advantage in the general classification on Dutch rider Demi Vollering and a 1min 17sec gap over Poland’s Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney.
Irish competitors Fiona Mangan and Mia Griffin were 89th and 117th across the line, respectively, over 25 minutes behind the winner.
Friday’s stage seven concludes at the summit of the legendary Mont Ventoux via the Bedoin climb over 15.7km at a gradient of 8.8%.
– © AFP 2026
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