Ten years after her only previous Tour of Britain participation, Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) returned to the British race in 2025. But unlike a decade ago in the race, though, when a teenage Mauritian ended up as lanterne rouge, this time round Le Court has already won stage 1 of the 2025 edition.
“I am very happy, not just with this victory, but also with being back here,” said Le Court after her victory.
She had raced for British UCI team Matrix Fitness in 2015, lining up at the Women’s Tour (now the Tour of Britain Women) and RideLondon Classique as a 19-year-old. Le Court placed 15th in the latter races but finished as lanterne rouge in the Women’s Tour, over an hour down on the winner.
After the 2016 season, Le Court had to move back to South Africa as she couldn’t get a pro contract that earned her enough to sustain her European adventure. The next time she would race in the United Kingdom was in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and then in the 2023 World Championships in Glasgow.
Having scored a contract with AG Insurance-Soudal from 2024, Le Court raced RideLondon Classique that year, but Essex and London were too flat for her liking, and she finished 40th overall.
The North York Moors between Dalby Forest and Redcar were a different matter, though, and Le Court had a plan for the stage. She had identified Langburn’s Bank, the second classified climb of the day, as the place to make a selection.
“We came into this stage with a plan and executed it perfectly. I attacked at kilometre 44, had Kristen [Faulkner] come with me, and we managed to hold off the chasers, both of us being strong engines,” Le Court described the action.
A 20-rider chase group bore down on the two frontrunners, but they held them off by five seconds, and Le Court beat Faulkner in the sprint to go from dead-last to race leader.
“It was pretty close at the finish, but I am delighted I could pull it off. I now look forward to the next stages, where we want to fight for more good results,” she concluded
It is not just the racing that she is looking forward to, though. Stages 3 and 4 take place in Scotland, the home country of Le Court’s mother, and on a BBC podcast she said that she had asked the team to prepare black pudding and haggis for her. With a leader’s jersey to defend, though, those treats may well have to wait until after the race is over.
