"Two of her teammates blocked me. Is that their tactics?" - Kim Le Court fuming after stage 7
Cycling
Kim Le Court did almost unthinkable to defend her jersey in the seventh stage of Tour de France Femmes today, but despite the great news, the Mauritian rider was fuming at the finish line after some questionable actions from her rivals.
"When I had to let go, I completely exploded," Le Court admits afterwards. "Then I focused on my values and found my own pace. At the top, I was on my own. I had to ride the descent of my life. I had reconnoitered it a few weeks earlier, so I knew what was coming. But I think I went down 10 times faster than I did then."
Le Court didn't know she was virtually losing her yellow jersey. "I didn't know about the differences. I was still able to catch up with a lot of girls."
When she rejoined the front, Le Court realized the fierce battle for the overall victory. "Demi (Vollering) had created a gap at a roundabout. I wanted to close the gap, but two of her teammates, Juliette (Labous) and Evita (Muzic), blocked me. That wasn't nice. I yelled at them to let me through. But that must be tactics according to them, right?"
The stage 8 will be the queen stage of this year's edition with a brutal 19-kilometer final climb at 8% - La Madeleine. After her massive effort to stay in yellow today, there's no doubt Le Court will put up a fight to hang on to the jersey also on this brute of a mountain, but she remains realistic about her own chances against the best climbers in the world.
Le Court is well-aware AG Insurance - Soudal Team has an even better card to play for the GC further minute down the standings: "Although I don't want to think about that too much right now. We have several cards to play with the team," she says, referring to her teammate Sarah Gigante.
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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