Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) won a four-up sprint to triumph at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and take her first major classic victory.
The Mauritian rider edged out Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez), Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) in the finishing straight to round out a dramatic day of racing. Le Court was the first rider to launch her sprint and the likes of Vollering were unable to get back on terms.Le Court, a former stage winner of the Giro d’Italia, punched the air with delight as she took an unexpected victory.
Le Court had to work hard to get back on terms with the riders at the head of the race after finding herself in the second group on the road as the attacks began to fly in the closing stages on the Côte de la Redoute, Côte des Forges and the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons climbs. The 29-year-old said afterwards that Liège victory had been a huge aim for her throughout the spring campaign and thanked her teammates for their part in the success.
She said: "To be honest when I bridged the gap on Roche-aux-Faucons I really felt strong compared to the others. When I bridged to them I saw they were really suffering, of course I was suffering too but for me to make that effort to bridge to them I knew I had maybe a bit more legs. Of course there was the effort to bridge to Cédrine Kerbaol first, she’s such a good rider. I just kicked and never looked back in the sprint. I could see Puck's jersey but I just didn’t stop."
Pieterse took second behind Le Court with Vollering in third. Lotte Kopecky came home in fifth, 24 seconds down on Le Court.
How it happened
By the time the race hit the slopes of the Côte de la Redoute, the action had well and truly kicked off with Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), Pauliene Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Antonia Niedermaier of Canyon//SRAM Zondacrypto all going on the offensive to form a small breakaway, 14 seconds ahead of the main field. The quartet rapidly crested the climb, looking to capitalise on the fact that FDJ Suez, the team of Demi Vollering, had missed the move.
Next up was the ascent of Côte des Forges, the penultimate climb of the day. Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) put the hammer down in the select chase group that had formed behind the leaders, putting the leading four under serious pressure. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) was locked onto Chabbey’s wheel, with the likes of Lotte Kopecky, Niamh Fisher-Black and Movistar’s Marlen Reusser also present.
Sensing the danger that the four leaders posed, Ferrand-Prévot launched several attacks off the front of the group on the descent of the climb, although the Frenchwoman was unable to force a gap. With 21 kilometres to go, Kerbaol was also attempting to split up the leaders ahead of the final climb, the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons. Working in tandem, the leading quartet pushed their advantage to approaching 30 seconds as the race neared its finale.
Sensing it was now or never with the chase group drawing closer, Van der Breggen briefly upped the tempo at the head of the race with 14 kilometres to the finish, pulling away from Rooijakkers and Niedermaier on the final ascent with Kerbaol the only rider able to hold her wheel. The move, however, was short lived as the chasers made contact thanks to the work of Chabbey and Puck Pieterse (Fenix Deceuninck).
Demi Vollering, Pieterse, Lotte Kopecky and Kerbaol then split the bunch towards the summit, with Kopecky taking them over the summit. While the rest of the group marked each other, Kerbaol attacked violently on the short descent as Marlen Reusser reached Pieterse, Vollering and Kopecky. Kerbaol soon had a gap of more than 12 seconds. Kasia Niewiadoma and Kim Le Court were the next riders to make it across to the Vollering group as Reusser and Kopecky fell away.
Le Court added some fresh firepower to the Vollering led group and soon brought Kerbaol back into their midst as the leaders entered the outskirts of Liège. The Mauritian rider then launched a devastating sprint in the final few hundred metres to take a surprise victory.
Results
Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes 2025
1. Kim Le Court (Mau) AG Insurance-Soudal, in 04:15:42
2. Puck Pieterse (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck,
3. Demi Vollering (Ned) FDJ-Suez,
4. Cédrine Kerbaol (Fra) EF Education-Oatly,
5. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime, +24s
6. Marlen Reusser (Swi) Movistar,
7. Niamh Fisher-Black (Nz) Lidl-Trek,
8. Monica Trinca Colonel (Ita) Liv AlUla Jayco,
9. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol) Canyon/SRAM Zondacrypto,
10. Yara Kastelijn (Ned) Fenix-Deceuninck, all same time
