Le Court-Pienaar top five in first race back

Le Court-Pienaar top five in first race back

Kim Le Court-Pienaar got off this week’s World Tour event to a solid start, finishing with the GC contenders on the first stage, which started and concluded in the Italian town of Sondrio. The Mauritian Champion, who had missed several key races in the spring due to a crash at Ronde van Vlaanderen, was one of the strongest riders out there, on a day that took in three classified climbs and 1700 vertical meters.

AG Insurance - Soudal was one of the main animators of this 109.3km stage, attacking with Urzka Zigart inside the final 40 kilometers, when she booked a place in a dangerous front group that quickly formed. Eighth overall at the Giro d’Italia just ten days ago, the former Slovenian Champion put in a probing attack there before the group split after a change of pace from two riders. Urska was the only one to set out in pursuit of the leading duo, chased on the descent by a peloton who was targeting the win, as well as the bonifications.

It was only with eight kilometers to go that Zigart was caught by a group featuring her teammate, Kim Le Court-Pienaar. A debutant at the Tour de Suisse, the latter was prominent there, especially on the steep Bordighi climb, where she pulled hard to cut the gap to the two riders up the road. The chasers eventually ran out of road in their attempt to bring the race back, but Kim could still sprint to an impressive fourth place - an encouraging result for the next stages.

Kim looks back on the first stage with satisfaction: "Happy to be back racing my bike. It wasn’t the easiest race to come back to, but I needed a demanding day to open up the legs again. This week won’t be easy either, but I’m ready to suffer and keep on building the form. Also very proud of Urška for the ride she put in today. She showed what she’s capable of and had the courage to take her chance and step outside her comfort zone. And lastly, a special thank you to Shari for her dedication to me today, always making sure I was in the right place at the right time during the key moments of the race. A wheel I trust completely and can follow with my eyes closed."