Kimberley Le Court retained the yellow jersey in the Tour de France Femmes on Friday with the descent of her life. The rider from Mauritius still has a chance of winning the overall victory, although she mainly warned the competition about her teammate Sarah Gigante.
Whoever you approach at AG Insurance-Soudal this week, the message is always the same. Everyone at the team of yellow jersey wearer Le Court believes that Gigante will wreak havoc on the Col de la Madeleine on Saturday.
“I think we’re going to see fireworks tomorrow,” Le Court said on Friday after the seventh stage at her press conference. “Sarah has proven that she is very good. She has been like a bunny all week, she is so enthusiastic. We have tried to keep her calm, but tomorrow is her D-day.”
Gigante was not on the lists of top favorites before the Tour. It is known that the 24-year-old Australian is a great climber. In the Giro d’Italia last month, she won two tough mountain stages, although Demi Vollering did not participate in that round.
But Gigante often loses time on toppers like Vollering in descents and flat stages. As a result, she finished third in the standings in the Giro. The light rider (53 kilos) has gotten through the first seven stages of the Tour reasonably well. She is eighth, 1 minute and 14 seconds behind Le Court. She is 43 seconds behind Vollering.
That may make Gigante the most dangerous asset of AG Insurance-Soudal. Le Court has been riding in yellow for four days, but she also very emphatically puts her Australian teammate forward.
“The other teams really know what Sarah can do,” said Le Court. “I think they are afraid of her, they just don’t say it out loud. I am very much looking forward to tomorrow’s ride. We will let our legs do the talking.”
Le Court’s own legs were not too good in the first Alpine stage on Friday. The classification leader had to let go on the Col du Granier, the final climb of the second category. “I completely exploded. I haven’t been feeling great for a few days and now my body completely switched itself off. But luckily I have a strong mindset and I never gave up.”
Le Court had a gap of more than half a minute on the group of Vollering at the top of the Granier. Fortunately for her, the finish in Chambéry was after a descent of 17 kilometers.
“I drove the descent of my life,” said Le Court. “I almost died a few times in a hairpin bend. I knew the descent, because I explored this ride. But I think I cycled down ten times faster today than during that exploration.”
Le Court rejoined the group of favorites 4 kilometers from the finish. This way she did not lose any time on her biggest competitors. In the general classification she still has a lead of 26 seconds on number two Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. Vollering is fourth at 31 seconds.
These are differences that can evaporate very quickly on Saturday in the queen stage. The eighth stage finishes on the Col de la Madeleine, a climb of 18.6 kilometers with an average gradient of 8.1 percent.
“I have no idea if I will recover enough to keep the yellow tomorrow as well,” said Le Court. “But luckily we have another trump card to play with Sarah. That motivates me and takes the pressure off my shoulders.”