Kim Le Court, a yellow jersey coming from afar

First African runner leader in the race, after the 2nd stage on Sunday, the 29 -year -old Mauritian only joined the professional peloton last year.

The day before the big departure in Vannes, his big smile had only his motivation. Kimberley Court was already imagined wearing the yellow jersey. “It is a dream for me and for Mauritians. I think they would be even more proud to see me wearing the yellow jersey than that of national champion even if there is already a little yellow on it”she had fun. Two days later, the dream came true in Quimper. By taking third place in the second stage of the Tour de France women 2025, in Sprint, Sunday July 27, she dethroned Marianne your despite perfect equality in time.

Obviously, she did not have in mind the point of settlement which allows her to pass before the Dutchman (in case of perfect equality, the best classified runner of the day passes in front). She only learned the new one once arrested by the French Télévisions consultant, Marion Hérault-Garnier, after the finish line. “I did not expect it at all. It's magic. I never thought I would realize this dream”she traced in the mixed zone, a few minutes after her visit to the podium, in a hurry to celebrate the moment with her husband and her brother.

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Everything goes very quickly for the 29-year-old Mauritian, who devoted her career to mountain biking, in Africa, before making the leap for road cycling, under the colors of AG Insurance-Soudal, for the 2024 season. A jump that occurred at the last minute at the end of 2023. “She had to get married. The contract arrived a week before the wedding. She had to shorten her honeymoon. The day after the wedding, she had to go on an internship at 7 am. It was not at all in her plans”reports his brother Olivier, present on the Tour. An unfinished aftertaste pushed his sister to accept the proposal. “I had reached all my mountain biking goals. I wanted a challenge”explains the one who was notably gold medalist from Cross-Country Marathon at the African Games in 2019.

Kim the Court had already tried his luck in the peloton in 2015 at 19. “Things had not passed it at all. I gave up or I ended last or penultimate at each race. It was really not memorable”tells the one who wore the colors of the Matrix Fitness and Bizkaia-Durango teams. After her abandonment from the second stage of the Giro in 2016, Kim the Court acted the failure of his European project and returned to South Africa, the country where she settled after the end of her studies in a French school in Mauritius.

On Sunday, she remembered the support that Marianne Vos had brought her during the Tour of Great Britain 2015, finished lastly last, almost 30 minutes from the penultimate: “She had waited for me more than an hour. Some said that I had stolen the yellow jersey today, but I think it must above all be proud. Ten years ago, I was on the verge of stopping everything and today I sit in front of you with the yellow jersey on my shoulders “savor the one who becomes the first African to wear the prestigious tunic, three months after her just as historic success on Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

“Being the first African runner has never been a goal in my mind. But it obviously makes the thing even more special, it may motivate more young people to put themselves at the bicycle and to believe that it is possible”noted that which was born 9,500 km from France but which is expressed in a very good French. On Mauritius, cycling is far from being a national sport. As a child, Kim the Court was especially passionate about football and led to Wayne Rooney in the field, in the middle of the boys. If she had not chosen cycling, she would have accepted A university scholarship to play in the United States. She followed the traces of her brother Olivier, who tried her luck in Europe before her.

“I made my little career. I did not succeed. She lives my dream in my placeexplains the one who ran in France at the US Montauban 82 or at the GSC Blagnac 31. Since she was small, I see that she has been above the lot. She has this talent and temperament. When we looked at the cartoon when we were little, she was the one who had the remote control. If she wants something, she's going to fight to get her. Its place is its place “.

“If you really want to shine in the bike, you have to leave Mauritius. It's a shame, but that's what I did”assumes Kim Le Court, whose status continues to grow within the peloton. Constantly confused by some spectators with Lotte Kopecky, the carrier of the rainbow jersey of world champion (which looks a lot like the Mauritius champion jersey), the Mauritian will be in yellow and well identifiable, on Monday at the Gacilly.

“I will try to keep it as long as possible”has already promised the interested party, who will have to provide answers as to her real level in the high mountains. His brother Olivier believes hard in his chances: “She can wear it to the end. She has the level. She will have to manage the pressure because this situation is new enough for her. This will be played will be mainly mentally”. Before projecting on the mountain at the end of next week, Kim Le Court is not sure to keep the yellow jersey during the third stage. If she finishes behind Marianne Vos (even without wasting time) in Angers, on a drawing layout for the Dutchman, she will have to give in her tunic.