Le Court-Pienaar retains second overall after fighting performance on stage 3

Le Court-Pienaar retains second overall after fighting performance on stage 3

Kim Le Court-Pienaar delivered another strong ride at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, finishing fifth on stage 3 and successfully holding on to second place in the general classification.

The demanding stage proved to be another selective day of racing, with a solo attack of Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset shaping the race. The team once again rode aggressively, supporting Le Court-Pienaar as she looked to take control of the race and challenge for the yellow jersey.

Despite several determined attacks in the closing kilometres, Le Court-Pienaar and a small chasing group were unable to bridge the gap to Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset, who produced a powerful solo ride to claim both the stage victory and the yellow jersey.

Crossing the line in fifth place, Le Court-Pienaar retains her excellent second place in the overall standings heading into Tuesday's individual time trial.

Kim Le Court-Pienaar: "It's difficult to know exactly how to feel after today's stage. I tried to attack a couple of times in the finale, but unfortunately the cooperation wasn't good enough to close the gap to a strong leader.

I was hoping that some of the other teams would also try something after I attacked on the final climb, just as we had planned. I managed to create a small gap with a group, but in the end everything came back together.

Tomorrow is the time trial, which is certainly not my speciality, but we'll see where we end up. Overall, I think we can be satisfied with how we raced and the feeling we had throughout the stage."

With three stages completed, AG Insurance - Soudal Team remains firmly in contention for the general classification as the race now turns towards the crucial individual time trial, where every second will count.