It might not have been shown by the TV cameras, but after a yellow-jersey-saving descent at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, race leader Kim Le Court-Pienaar said she was “completely blocked” by FDJ-SUEZ from rejoining the GC group.
The AG Insurance-Soudal rider found herself dropped on a climb with 20km to go on stage seven. As her gap to the front of the race fell to more than 30 seconds, the virtual standings put her in fourth overall.
She then, in her own words, pulled off the “best downhill of my life” to chase back to her GC challengers, catching them with 4km to go. It was at that moment, she explained in her post-race press conference, that the rival tactics started to play out.
“When I got back in the group, I got completely blocked by two FDJ riders at one point, which was really not nice,” Le Court said.
“It was just a silly moment, to be honest. I was back in the group, and we went around a roundabout, and the group got stretched out. Demi [Vollering] and [the other GC riders] got a little bit of a gap, and Juliette [Labous] and Evita [Muzic] completely blocked the road,” she said.
“It was a small little path and I almost hit the barrier at that point, but I didn’t think about it. I just jumped straight away and screamed to let me through. It is what it is, but I’m glad in the end that I didn’t lose time.”
No fines or yellow cards were issued to FDJ-SUEZ’s riders after the race.
It was with a shrug that Le Court recounted the story. “I guess that’s cycling,” she said. With the yellow jersey still on her shoulders – a prize she looked likely to surrender on the Col du Granier – it was the Mauritian who finished the day on top.
Still, it didn't come without a fright. “The last 4km of the uphill was difficult, as I think you could see on TV for me,” she smiled. “My body just completely shut off at that moment, and then I just had to focus on my own numbers and my own pace, and try and do the best climb possible, but not also kind of kill myself.”
If there was a risk of going too deep on the uphill, the downhill was another story entirely.
As Maeva Squiban (UAE Team ADQ) soloed to back-to-back stage victories, Le Court found herself with around 300m of winding, downward-sloping tarmac to close to her GC rivals. A former mountain biker, she drew on her handling skills.
“I think I almost died a few times on the descent,” she said. “I did the recon of the downhill a few weeks ago, so I knew what was coming. I just really had to go full gas... I think I went 10 times faster than the recon, to be honest.
“My team have ridden their hearts out for me this whole week, so it’s very, very, very difficult to give up when you have a team dedicated to one goal. I had no choice but to ride my heart out for them, and that’s exactly what I did in the downhill. I really didn't think about it, I just wanted to keep yellow.”
And keep yellow Le Court did.
Two stages remain at the Tour de France Femmes, which now shifts into the first instalment of an Alpine double-header; Saturday's stage eight will close at the summit of the near 19km Col de La Madeleine.
Having lost the wheel on the smaller Col du Granier, how’s Le Court feeling for the race’s biggest test yet? “I’m so excited,” she laughed, a tongue-in-cheek tone in her voice.
“I just want to enjoy my time in yellow,” the Mauritian continued. “We’ve got a few cards to play tomorrow. I’m going to try and recover the best possible, and we’re going to still fight and, hopefully, light some fireworks.”
