Latest news with #Mauritius
ABC News
9 hours ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Kimberley Le Court Pienaar becomes first African to win stage at Tour de France Femmes
Mauritian cyclist Kimberley Le Court Pienaar has become the first African to win a stage at the Tour de France Femmes. With a late push during a marathon 165.8 kilometre ride from Jaunay-Marigny to Gueret, Le Court reclaimed the yellow jersey on Wednesday. Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal), 29, who led the general classification after stage two but was overtaken by Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), won a breakneck downhill push to the finish of stage five, edging 2023 champion Demi Vollering. The fifth stage, the longest in the Tour this year, covered relatively flat terrain before three climbs in the final 35km. It resulted in several failed breakaway attempts as the peloton covered 46.5km in the first hour despite multiple crashes. Green jersey holder Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) recovered from a crash to rejoin the peloton, but struggled to keep up after the first climb, ultimately finishing 58th. American Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) abandoned the race after her third crash in three days. Maria Giulia Confalonieri, Elisa Balsamo and Monica Trinca Colonel also abandoned the race. Vos, who stayed in the peloton behind a leading group for most of the race, attacked in the final 15km during the mountainous part of the stage, but fell behind during the final uphill push, dropping to sixth in the general classification. Vollering (FDJ-Suez) rose to third overall, while Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Visma-Lease a Bike) moved up to second, sitting 18 seconds behind Le Court in the general classification. The Tour continues on Thursday with a mountainous 123.7km ride from Clermont-Ferrand to Ambert. Reuters
Irish Times
16 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Kimberley Le Court Pienaar becomes first African to win a stage at the Tour de France Femmes
Mauritian Kimberley Le Court Pienaar became the first African to win a stage at the Tour de France Femmes with a late push on Wednesday, reclaiming the yellow jersey during a marathon 165.8km ride from Jaunay-Marigny to Gueret. Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal), 29, who led the general classification after stage two but was overtaken by Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), won a breakneck downhill push to the finish, edging 2023 champion Demi Vollering. 'We came in with a clear plan, first to stay safe ... it was difficult because it was flat and fast, a lot of big crashes ... then try for the victory,' Le Court said. The fifth stage, the longest in the Tour this year, went through a relatively flat terrain before three climbs in the final 35km and saw several failed breakaway attempts as the peloton covered 46.5km in the first hour despite multiple crashes. READ MORE Green jersey holder Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) recovered from a crash to rejoin the peloton, but struggled to keep up after the first climb, ultimately finishing 58th. American Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) abandoned the race after her third crash in three days. Maria Giulia Confalonieri, Elisa Balsamo and Monica Trinca Colonel also quit the race. Vos, who stayed in the peloton behind a leading group for most of the race, attacked in the final 15km during the mountainous part of the stage, but fell behind during the final uphill push, dropping to sixth in the general classification. Vollering (FDJ-Suez) rose to third overall, while Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Visma-Lease a Bike) moved up to second, sitting 18 seconds behind Le Court in the general classification. Lara Gillespie is 95th in the general classification, with Mia Griffin (96th) and Fiona Mangan (99th) close behind her. The Tour continues on Thursday with a mountainous 123.7km ride from Clermont-Ferrand to Ambert.
New York Times
17 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Tour de France Femmes: Kim Le Court becomes first African to win a stage
Kim Le Court became the first African to win a stage of the Tour de France Femmes as the Mauritian won the fifth stage to put herself in the leader's yellow jersey. Team Visma Lease-A-Bike's Marianne Vos started the day in Chasseneuil-du-Poitou (Futuroscope) leading the overall classification but crossed the finish line 165.8km later, in Gueret, 33 seconds behind the first group. The day of racing finished with no movement in the green jersey (points) and the polka-dot jersey (mountains) with Lorena Wiebes (Team SD Worx-Protime) and Elise Chabbey (FDJ-Suez) holding onto them respectively. 🇲🇺 @KimLeCourt takes it on the line !!! 🇲🇺 @KimLeCourt l'emporte sur la ligne !!!#TDFF2025 | #WatchTheFemmes | @gozwift — Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (@LeTourFemmes) July 30, 2025 'We came in with a clear plan, first to stay safe, it was difficult because it was flat and fast, a lot of big crashes, then the big goal was to take the bonus sprint, which I managed to do, then try for the victory,' Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) said after her win. 'It was difficult in the finish, I went around the corner in front and it was a bit further than I expected, but my kick was the best in the group. Advertisement 'I couldn't have done it without a team-mate. Teamwork is what you need in the sport.' The 29-year-old's team-mate Sarah Gigante was in the leading group that included Demi Vollering (FDJ Suez) and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Team Visma Lease-A-Bike), helping set the pace to ensure Le Court was set up for the win. After two days of dominance from Wiebes, the peloton distanced her and team-mate Lotte Kopecky with just over 20km to go as they chased down the breakaway group. United States champion Kristen Faulkner was one of eight riders to abandon the race on Wednesday, as she was involved in another early crash and her team EF Education-Oatly announced on their X page that she had battled fatigue. The other riders to drop out were Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), Maria Giulia Confalonieri (Uno-X Mobility), Katrine Aalerud (UnoX-Mobility), Monica Trinca Colonel (Liv-AlUla-Jayco), Eugenia Bujak (Cofidis), Agnieszka Skalniak-Sojka (CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto) and Eleonora Gasparrini (UAE Team ADQ). Race update: Kristen Faulkner abandoned the #TDFF2025 after battling fatigue since the start of the race. She gave everything to support her teammates but will now return home to focus on rest and recovery. Wishing you all the best, champ 🫶 — EF Education-Oatly (@EF_Oatly) July 30, 2025 Thursday's stage will take the riders into the mountains for the first time, making it the most significant day for those competing in the GC as time gaps are more likely to occur. The peloton will travel 123.7 km from Clermont-Ferrand to Ambert.
The Guardian
17 hours ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Kim Le Court swoops for Tour de France Femmes stage five win and yellow jersey
Kim Le Court won stage five of the Tour de France Femmes, becoming the first African rider to win a stage of the race. The Mauritian also took the yellow jersey from Marianne Vos, who lost time on her rivals after getting dropped by a breakaway. Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) was part of the seven-rider breakaway that included several GC contenders, which escaped the peloton on the final climb before a dramatic descent to the finish line. Le Court held off a late surge from Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez) to win the final sprint in Guéret, with Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime) finishing third. The defending champion, Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM), along with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma Lease a Bike), Pauliena Rooijakkers (Fenix-Deceunick) and Le Court's teammate, Sarah Gigante, all took just over 30 seconds from Vos, who dropped to sixth in the general classification after finishing in the second group. 'We came into the stage with a very clear plan,' Le Court told Eurosport. 'If we finish in a small group then try to take the stage victory. The sprint was faster than I expected … luckily my kick is the fastest in the group. 'Having a teammate with me helped a lot,' Le Court added, after hesitation among the leading group on the final descent. 'If I didn't have Sarah [Gigante] with me then maybe the group behind [including Vos] would have caught us up.' Le Court leads the overall race by 18 seconds with Ferrand-Prévot second and Vollering a further five seconds back. Niewiadoma is fourth, 24 seconds behind Le Court, with Van der Breggen a second behind in fifth, 10 seconds ahead of Vos. As the GC race heats up, the contenders will face the first mountain stage on Thursday, a 123.7km leg between Clermont-Ferrand and Ambert. The route features four categorised climbs, include the Category 1 Col du Béal. Jeremy Whittle's full race report will follow
Zawya
21 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
South African Airways to launch Cape Town–Mauritius route in December 2025
South African Airways (SAA) will launch a new direct route between Cape Town and Mauritius on 9 December 2025, adding a strategic leisure destination to its growing regional network. The service will operate three times a week — on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays — with two departure time options. The outbound flight will leave Cape Town at 9.25am and arrive in Mauritius at 4.30pm. The return flight is scheduled to depart at 5.20pm and land in Cape Town at 9.30pm. SAA says a temporary adjustment to twice-weekly frequency will be made from mid-January to mid-March 2026 to align with seasonal demand. "Connecting Cape Town with Mauritius is a fascinating achievement that our team has been aspiring towards for quite some time," says Professor John Lamola, SAA CEO. "The introduction of this route demonstrates SAA's role in promoting leisure travel across the region and supports the broader tourism objectives for both South Africa and Mauritius." Tebogo Tsimane, SAA chief commercial officer, adds that the flight schedule was designed in consultation with local tour operators to match travel patterns and peak holiday planning. Bookings for the new route are now open via and accredited travel agents. All rights reserved. © 2022. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
