The thrill was there until the end, but Kimberley Le Court Pienaar once again managed to make history. The AG Insurance athlete is the first from Mauritius to win a stage of the Tour de France Femmes; in Gueret, she beat Demi Vollering by a few centimeters and returned to the yellow jersey. Anna Van Der Breggen finished in third place.

Some said that the Tour de France Femmes was starting today, and indeed, in the 165.8 km from Chasseneuil du Poitou to Gueret, everything truly happened. In the first 40 kilometers of the longest stage of the race, there were several crashes in the group involving many athletes, including Elisa Balsamo (Lidl Trek) and Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Uno X), who were forced to withdraw.

After about seventy kilometers from the start, a breakaway of 5 athletes formed, gaining up to 3'47" on the group: Alison Jackson (Ef Education), Brodie Chapman (Uae Team Adq), Francesca Barale (PicNic Postnl), Catalina Anais Soto (Laboral Kutxa), and Anneke Dijkstra (Volker Wessels).

In the last 40 kilometers, the situation changed, the route became more undulating, and in no time, the group halved the gap to the breakaway. Brodie Chapman was the last to resist, caught 16 km from the finish, while the group completely broke apart and Lorena Wiebes was immediately out of contention.

The final mountain classification point was decisive; the top riders accelerated to take the intermediate bonuses halfway up the climb, forming a group of 7 athletes: Kasia Newiadoma (Canyon Sram), Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Team Visma Lease a Bike), Demi Vollering (FDJ Suez), Kimberley Le Court Pienaar and Sarah Gigante (Ag Insurance Soudal Team), Anna Van Der Breggen (Team Sd Worx Protime), and Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix Deceuninck). Le Court Pienaar, the best-placed in the general classification, and her teammate Gigante's work was crucial in preventing Marianne Vos from rejoining. In Gueret, it came down to a sprint, with the Mauritian athlete being the fastest, though she almost raised her arms too early and nearly gave the victory to Demi Vollering.

Tomorrow's stage is the Clermont Ferrand - Ambert, 123.7 km with 4 mountain classifications, a stage where we will certainly see the top riders in action.

STAGE RESULTS

1 Le Court Kim AG Insurance-Soudal Team 03:54:07

2 Vollering Demi FDJ-SUEZ + 00

3 van der Breggen Anna Team SD Worx-Protime + 00

4 Niewiadoma-Phinney Katarzyna CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto + 00

5 Ferrand-Prevot Pauline Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 00

6 Gigante Sarah AG Insurance-Soudal Team + 00

7 Rooijakkers Pauliena Fenix-Deceuninck + 00

8 Vos Marianne Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 33

9 Muzic Evita FDJ-SUEZ + 33

10 Chabbey Elise FDJ-SUEZ + 33

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 Le Court Kim AG Insurance-Soudal Team 15:07:14

2 Ferrand-Prevot Pauline Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 18

3 Vollering Demi FDJ-SUEZ + 23

4 Niewiadoma-Phinney Katarzyna CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto + 24

5 van der Breggen Anna Team SD Worx-Protime + 27

6 Vos Marianne Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 37

7 Rooijakkers Pauliena Fenix-Deceuninck + 45

8 Gigante Sarah AG Insurance-Soudal Team + 55

9 Pieterse Puck Fenix-Deceuninck + 01:04

10 Kerbaol Cédrine EF Education-Oatly + 01:16