The champion from Mauritius took everyone by surprise with an early attack on the final climb of the stage, which was just 104 kilometres long and ran from Mold to the small hill; at 2.5 kilometres in length and with an average gradient of 6.1 per cent, it provided the backdrop for the most challenging finale of this tour. Le Court went on the attack right at the start of the climb. No other woman in the peloton could keep up.

Behind Le Court, the elimination race continued, further thinning out the already severely depleted field even before the final. In the end, it was Lippert who finished second, 13 seconds behind. Third place went to the Swede Caroline Andersson (Liv Jayco AlUla). She crossed the finish line 20 seconds behind the winner. Almost all the other riders in the top 10 also crossed the line one by one – with the previous overall leader, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx – Protime), coming in tenth and minimising the damage by finishing 37 seconds behind.

Le Court wins in place of her fallen team-mate

In the overall standings, the Dutch top sprinter is now in third place, 35 seconds behind Le Court. However, even with potential time bonuses from sprint wins, this gap cannot be closed in the two remaining stages. Lippert is also in second place here. She is 26 seconds behind Le Court.

“The plan was simply to give it my all at the foot of the climb, and I was in the best position – I just had to keep giving my all right up to the summit,” said the winner, making her fourth victory of the season – her second at international level, alongside a stage win in the Tour de France Femmes – look all in a day’s work. “I rode for my team-mate Gladys Verhulst-Wild today.” The French rider had been unable to finish Stage 1 after a crash.

Le Court leads not only the general classification but also the points classification. Lauren Dickson (FDJ United – SUEZ) took the mountains jersey. Fleur Moors (Lidl – Trek) is the best young rider after three of the five days.

2026 Tour of Britain Women – Results of Stage 3

Here’s how the third stage of the 2026 Tour of Britain Women went

The short but hilly stage – with 1,900 metres of climbing – had to make do without a breakaway group for much of the day. After two attacks were quickly neutralised straight after the start, there were no further attempts to break away at first.

Similarly, the two mountain classifications (both Category 2) at the 35- and 62-kilometre marks were decided from within the peloton. On both occasions, Dickson secured the most points. After that, Uno-X launched an attack, as they had done so many times before during the tour. But this attempt, too, was quickly brought to an end, allowing Le Court to win the intermediate sprint 25 kilometres from the finish.

After that, things remained quiet for the time being. When the first major surge came five kilometres from the finish, there were only 20 women left in the leading group. Within that group, Lidl-Trek in particular applied pressure, but ultimately failed to capitalise on it in any way. None of the Lidl riders managed to finish in the top 10.
Le Court, on the other hand – apart from the intermediate sprint – kept a low profile for a long time right up to the final climb. With her explosive attack at the foot of the hill, she caught her rivals by surprise; they were unable to respond.