Kim Le Court out-sprinted Kristen Faulkner on stage one of the Tour of Britain Women after the duo escaped on the final classified climb of the day.
The AG Insurance-Soudal and EF Education-Oatly riders distanced everyone else on Langburn's Bank, 37km from the finish in Redcar, and the chase behind was not enough to bring them back.
Despite leading into the final 300 metres, Le Court held on to sprint to the win ahead of Faulkner, who couldn't match her power. Behind, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) took third from the reduced peloton. Cat Ferguson (Movistar) was the best British finisher, coming in fifth.
Le Court now leads the four-stage race by five seconds, which resumes tomorrow with another lumpy stage in North Yorkshire. Both Le Court and Faulkner also benefited from bonus seconds to grow their cushion at the top of the standings.
“I am very happy, not just with this victory, but also with being back here," Le Court said post-stage. "We came into this stage with a plan and executed it perfectly. I attacked, had Kristen come with me, and we managed to hold off the chasers, both of us being strong engines.
"It was pretty close at the finish, but I am delighted I could pull it off. I now look forward to the next stages, where we want to fight for some more good results."
How it happened
The 82km-long stage rolled out of Dalby Forest on the way to Redcar, a day with two classified climbs.
The first of these came with over 50km to go, Blakey Ridge - 5.6km at 4.3% - with the points won by Anouska Koster (Uno X-Mobility), before Langburn’s Bank quickly followed. The race kicked off in the descent down to the bottom of this climb.
An attack from Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) was followed by Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) and Anna Henderson (Lidl-Trek) with 37km to go. Henderson was distanced close to the top, but attempted to grind her way back on. Le Court, though, was free of Faulkner and alone over the top.
Le Court won the QOM sprint at the top of Langburn’s Bank, but was rejoined by Faulkner on the descent, as the peloton trailed by around half a minute. The bunch thinned out on the lumpy North York Moors as the race headed back towards the coast.
Behind the lead pair of Le Court and Faulkner, the peloton appeared to have split, with FDJ-Suez and Movistar leading the chase from a smaller group, which was 34 seconds behind with 28km to go.
Despite having numbers behind, the peloton appeared unable to really bring the gap back down. One moment of concern came with 15km to go, when Faulkner misjudged a corner and almost crashed into a traffic island. However, Le Court waited for her break partner, in the knowledge that she needed the extra power.
There was no slowing down or attacks from either of the breakaway duo, simply full commitment to the end of the stage.
With 1km to go, the gap was stuck at 18 seconds, with the power from the chasing group appearing to reduce the gap very little. Le Court opened up the sprint first, with Faulkner following in behind, with Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) finishing third.
Results
Tour of Britain Women 2025 stage one: Dalby Forest > Redcar (81.5km)
1. Kim Le Court (MRI) AG Insurance-Soudal, in 1:59:05
2. Kristen Faulkner (USA) EF Education-Oatly, at same time
3. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +5s
4. Linda Zanetti (Sui) Uno-X Mobility
5. Cat Ferguson (GBr) Movistar
6. Millie Couzens (GBr) Great Britain
7. Megan Jastrab (USA) Picnic PostNL
8. Ally Wollaston (NZl) FDJ-Suez
9. Quinty Ton (Ned) Liv AlUla Jayco
10. Sarah Van Dam (Can) CERATIZIT, all at same time
General classification after stage one
1. Kim Le Court (MRI) AG Insurance-Soudal, in 1:59:05
2. Kristen Faulkner (USA) EF Education-Oatly, +5s
3. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +14s
4. Karlijn Swinkels (Ned) UAE Team ADQ, +17s
5. Linda Zanetti (Sui) Uno-X Mobility, +18s
6. Cat Ferguson (GBr) Movistar
7. Millie Couzens (GBr) Great Britain
8. Megan Jastrab (USA) Picnic PostNL
9. Ally Wollaston (NZl) FDJ-Suez
10. Quinty Ton (Ned) Liv AlUla Jayco, all at same time
