Kimberley Le Court-Pienaar (AG Insurance - Soudal) produced a stunning display to secure stage victory and the overall race lead on a windy Stage One of the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women from Dalby Forest to Redcar.
Along with Olympic and U.S. national champion Kristen Faulkner (EF Education - Oatly), Le Court-Pienaar broke away on the second climb of the day, with the pair managing to hold off the chasing peloton, and the Mauritian national champion proving a level above the rest to seal the win and the race lead, as Lorena Wiebes (Team SDWorx - Protime) led in the bunch.
After a gentle start to the race and stage, rolling out from the scenic Dalby Forest, the peloton remained together until just 500 metres before the first Queen of the Mountain point at the top of the second category climb at Blakey Ridge, where attacks began to fly.
Anouska Koster (Uno-X Mobility) duly won the sprint to claim the full six points, just ahead of Dominika Wlodarczyk (UAE Team ADQ). The riders quickly reunited across the North York Moors National Park and along a swift descent to the foot of the next categorised climb, Langburn’s Bank.
As the riders began the second category test, it was here that Le Court-Pienaar launched her decisive attack, with only Faulker and Britain’s Anna Henderson (Lidl-Trek) able to follow the Mauritian national champion. Henderson could not cope with the pace, and was quickly dropped, leaving just the pair to summit the climb, with Le Court-Pienaar taking full points.
Le Court-Pienaar and Faulkner decided to work together over the top of the climb to maintain their advantage over the peloton, which had splintered behind them, as an elite chase group formed to hunt down the two escapees, limiting the gap to just 33 seconds.
At the intermediate sprint at Newton-under-Roseberry, the gap remained above 20 seconds, as Le Court-Pienaar crossed the line first once again to take not only the 10 points but also three bonus seconds. Faulkner earned two extra seconds and Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) swept up the last remaining bonus second from the chasing group.
Over the next 15 kilometres as the race approached the breezy North Sea coastline at Redcar, Movistar Team and FDJ - Suez shared chasing duties as they worked towards a sprint finish. The two teams did make some progress, but simply could not erase enough of the breakaway’s advantage, which stood at just 13 seconds in the final kilometer.
Le Court-Pienaar launched her sprint with 300 metres to go and produced a powerful display to take the victory, sealing not only the stage but also the green jersey for the overall race lead. Faulkner could not match the Mauritian, settling for second place, with European champion and pre-race favourite Wiebes sprinting to third from the chasing group, just five seconds behind the leading duo on the line.
Her performance on the stage means Le Court-Pienaar will wear the Lloyds green jersey as race leader, where her lead is five seconds, and also now tops the red jersey competition as the leader of the points competition, as well as the blue jersey as ‘Queen of the Mountains’ - earned by virtue of her stage victory having tied on points with Koster. Cat Ferguson (Movistar Team) will wear the white jersey as the best placed young rider, where she is sixth on general classification.
Speaking after the podium, Kimberley Le Court-Pienaar, said: “Today we had a clear plan and executed it exactly as we wanted. I’m really happy that the legs reacted and I was able to pull it off for the team.
“Tomorrow is a stage that suits me a bit more, I’m going into it with a bit more confidence. We’ll have to see, hopefully I'll have a good night's sleep.”
Speaking after achieving fifth place in Redcar and taking the white jersey of best young rider, Cat Ferguson said: “It was really fun out there, really nice to hear British voices shouting everyone on and it was definitely one of my favourite races this year.
“I think it went as I expected - I thought it would definitely come down to a sprint, so for the two to come away was a surprise. They were too strong and credits to them for staying away.”
As well as the green jersey, stage winner Le Court will also receive a one night stay at The Spa Hotel Saltburn, courtesy of the Tees Valley Combined Authority, so that they can return to enjoy the Tees Valley at their leisure.
All of the riders on the podium in Redcar also received a framed artwork of Saltburn Bank from the Tees Valley Combined Authority, a climb that they will tackle twice during Friday’s stage.
Full stage results and standings can be found here.
Stage two sees the Lloyds Tour of Britain Women remain in the Tees Valley with a 114.3-kilometre leg from Hartlepool to Saltburn-by-the-Sea. The stage takes in Seaton Carew, Billingham, Stokesley, Great Ayton, and Guisborough, before a finishing circuit in Redcar & Cleveland that will see riders tackle the famous hairpins of the 15% coastal climb of Saltburn Bank twice, the second time for the finish of the stage, which comes just after 2pm.
Fans can follow live coverage via the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website and app, or via the Lloyds Tour of Britain YouTube channel here.
The Lloyds Tour of Britain Women concludes in Glasgow on Sunday 8 June, with a final stage circuit race and accompanying free Lloyds Tour of Britain Family Cycling Festival, which will provide a unique chance to ride on the same closed road, traffic free, circuit as the world’s best. For more information on the Lloyds Tour of Britain Family Cycling Festival, please click here.
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