Kim Le Court-Pienaar was at her 'limit' before earning 'crazy' Stage 6 win at Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift - 'I was really dead'
Published 06/08/2026 at 19:59 GMT+1
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Kim Le Court-Pienaar of AG Insurance-Soudal admitted she was at her "limit" before catching up with the breakaway and claiming a thrilling sprint victory in Tournon-sur-Rhone on day six of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
'I was really dead' - Le Court-Pienaar was 'close to giving up' en route to Stage 6 win
Video credit: TNT Sports
Having been forced to swap bikes on the penultimate descent due to a mechanical issue, the 30-year-old fought back to join an eight-rider breakaway before the day's final climb.
Le Court-Pienaar then attacked with 300m remaining to pip second placed Cedrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly) and third placed Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) to the line.Â
”The race was crazy,” Le Court-Pienaar told TNT Sports. ”I had a mechanical on the downhill before the last climb and I had to change bikes.Â
”I was really far but my team was amazing and they brought me back slowly but surely back to the bunch and I got back on top of the last climb which was a really big effort.
”I then tried to stay patient, I tried to recover from this big effort.Â
”Riejanne Markus and I tried to bridge to the breakaway and we got to the front and they were not really cooperating but I was happy to still try.
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Le Court-Pienaar overcomes mechanical issue to take stunning Stage 6 win
Video credit: TNT Sports
”I got a gap in the last few kilometres and Elisa [Longo Borghini] closed me down, but then Riejanne Markus made an attack from the back. I knew it was going to happen because that's the only way she can win the race like this.Â
”I had to close the gap myself, I was really, really dead, I was at my limit.Â
”I can't believe I still had the legs to sprint, it was really hard, it was really this close before I could give up. I will never give up after this big effort my team did.”
Le Court-Pienaar spent the Tour’s opening days in contention for the yellow jersey, only to endure a disappointing time trial and Stage 5 showing.Â
While the Stage 6 victory saw her sit ninth in the general classification, just 45 seconds adrift of the top five, Le Court-Pienaar insisted that her priority had always been to claim a stage win.
”The team needed it,” Le Court-Pienaar added. ”I've been really struggling since the TT day.
”I think this really makes our Tour. Of course, we've got GC ambitions but winning a stage in the Tour de France is really special.Â
”People don't really remember the top 10, top five riders in the Tour but they do remember stage winners.”
Elsewhere, yellow jersey holder Marlen Reusser (Movistar) maintained a 12-second advantage in the general classification on Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) and a 1'17'' gap over Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-SRAM).
Stage 7 will see riders take on the 15.7km Bedoin climb that finishes atop Mont Ventoux.
How to watch the 2026 Tour de France Femmes on TV and live stream
Watch every stage of the 2026 Tour de France from start to finish live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.
TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
You can subscribe to TNT Sports through HBO Max, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.
2026 Tour de France Femmes TV schedule and route details
| Stage | Date | Start - Finish | Distance |
| Stage 7 | Friday, Aug 7 | La Voulte-sur-Rhone - Mont Ventoux | 144km |
| Stage 8 | Sat, Aug 8 | Sisteron - Nice | 175km |
| Stage 9 | Sunday, Aug 9 | Nice - Nice | 99km |
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