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.
"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."
Polkadot-wearing Puck Pieterse hoovered up more climbing points today, including the maximum haul for the QOM Sprint to the top of category-two Col de Lalouvesc. And then, with 45km to go, after hanging on the wheels of her FDJ United-SUEZ teammate Demi Vollering, local rider Célia Gery went on the attack during the long fast decent.
Five riders went with the Frenchwoman, as she led the way around roads that are very familiar to her. Along with Pieterse and Gery were Sarah Van Dam (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team L'IMAD), Liane Lippert (Movistar) and Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly).
Behind them, a depleted peloton stayed within reach, with the gap just 25 seconds as the race approached the last climb, the category-3 Côte de Boucieu-le-Roi (3.9km à 5.6%), which Puck Pieterse was once again the first to summit.
The maillot jaune of Marlen Reusser was in the chasing group, along with Antonia Niedermaier (Canyon-SRAM) in the white jersey, plus Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), Demi Vollering and Paula Blasi (UAE Team L'IMAD), as well as impressive 19-year-old Paula Ostiz (Movistar).
Several big-name riders were struggling with the pace and heat of the day, including Anna van der Breggen from Team SD Worx-Protime, who was dropped. However, after recovering impressively from her enforced bike swap, Kim Le Court-Pienaar rose to the challenge and bridged the gap, along with Riejanne Markus from Lidl-Trek, both joining the breakaway with 10km to go.
Vollering was pulling hard in what remained of the peloton, shrinking the gap and stretching the group during the last technical descent, but it became clear the stage winner was going to come from the ranks of the breakaway.
The lead swapped hands several times in the last 5km, with Kim Le Court-Pienaar first making a move with just over 4km to go, followed by Cédrine Kerbaol and then Riejanne Markus, but Elisa Longo Borghini reigned in each attack.
As the stage went right down to the wire, Pieterse made a late dash for the line, but having made up so much lost ground, a determined Le Court-Pienaar flew past her and won a memorable day of racing by half a bike length.
RESULTS
TOUR DE FRANCE FEMMES Stage 6, Montbrison > Tournon-sur-Rhône (153.4km)
1. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, in 4:01:48
2. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly
3. Puck Pieterse (Ned) Fenix-Premier Tech
4. Sarah Van Dam (Can) Visma-Lease a Bike
5. Célia Gery (Fra) FDJ United-Suez
6. Liane Lippert (Ger) Movistar, all at same time
7. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE Team L'IMAD, +2s
8. Riejanne Markus (Ned) Lidl-Trek, +5s
9. Dominika Włodarczyk (Pol) UAE Team L'IMAD, +28s
10. Noemi Rüegg (Sui) EF Education-Oatly, at same time
Tour de France Femmes 2026: general classification after stage 6
1. Marlen Reusser (Sui) Movistar in 19:43:34
2. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ United-Suez + 0:12
3. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon-SRAM + 1:17
4. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita) UAE Team L'Imad + 2:28
5. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger) Canyon-SRAM + 2:40
6. Dominika Włodarczyk (Pol) UAE Team L'IMAD + 2:54
7. Isabella Holmgren (Can) Lidl-Trek + 3:05
8. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly + 3:07
9. Kim Le Court-Pienaar (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, +3:26
10. Paula Blasi (Esp) UAE Team L'Imad + 3:51
