Breaking down exactly how Le Court-Pienaar took the overall lead after winning the third stage of the Lloyd’s Tour of Britain.
Cor Vos
Midway through the third stage of the Lloyds Tour of Britain, Kim Le Court-Pienaar could be seen shaking out her hands at the back of a select group of riders who had topped the Nebo climb ahead of the rest of the race. The Mauritian champion finished third on the previous stage, but had shown clear frustration after a slew of attacks in Wednesday’s opener were unsuccessful. On Friday, as an overall favourite for the five-day event, an attack from Le Court-Pienaar was inevitable.
Normally one to make the first move, Le Court-Pienaar was measured in her efforts, waiting until the final 3.2 km ascent to throw down. Her attack when it came was lethal, and although her power was ultimately what won her the stage, her positioning going into that short ascent gave her a leg up on Liane Lippert, who finished second on the day.
Winning a bike race is all about small moments, small victories. For Le Court-Pienaar, the move into the final 3 km of the Lloyds Tour of Britain stage 3 was so much more than that.
Although her victory was commanding, earlier in the stage, Le Court-Pienaar hadn’t looked 100%. She’s a rider who loves a good attack, and over the category 2 Nebo climb she sat comfortably in the bunch. FDJ United-Suez was doing the work for her, shredding the peloton and keeping a number of dangerous riders from the front of the race. Le Court-Pienaar only had one teammate who was able to keep the pace, and that was Letizia Borghesi.
There’s a time not that long ago when Le Court-Pienaar might have attacked on this 6.6 km ascent, but she didn’t. Instead, she rode within herself. Instead of throwing everything at the early phases of the race, Le Court-Pienaar measured her effort, with some help from other teams angling for their own ambitions.
After the climb and a technical descent, Le Court-Pienaar moved to the back of the bunch to give her arms a good shake and prepare for the rest of the stage.
Shake it off
The first moment Le Court-Pienaar was ready to display her post-Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift form was in the intermediate sprint. Not normally a sprinter, nor one to get in the mix when the fast women are contesting, Le Court-Pienaar had tried out her fast-twitch muscles the day before. Then in Friday’s intermediate sprint, she wasn’t up against all the fast women, as a lot of them had been distanced on the category 2 climbs before.
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