HomeCyclingThe first African to lead the Tour de France Femme needs a special bike, and that’s why Kim Le Court is riding a yellow Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8
The first African to lead the Tour de France Femme needs a special bike, and that’s why Kim Le Court is riding a yellow Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8
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AG Insurance-Soudal’s Kim Le Court might be a new name on the women’s WorldTour, but she’s no stranger among the African cycling community, having competed professionally both on the road and mountain bike in South Africa. While some of her best results have come off-road – she’s won the Absa Cape Epic and Swiss Epic, two of the toughest races on the mountain bike marathon calendar – last year was a breakout year with victories at the Giro d’Italia and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) wearing the Tour de France Femmes yellow jersey
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The Mauritian has carried her form and hunger to perform at the highest level into 2025, winning stage 1 of the Tour of Britain, and now has three podium finishes in the first five stages at the Tour de France to her name, the last of which was an emphatic win to regain the maillot jaune (yellow jersey) she wore on stage 3. As the first African to wear the yellow jersey and win a stage at the Tour, she’s riding a special bike to mark the occasion – a yellow Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8.
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Checker theme symbolic of racing heritage of Specialized Bicycles(Image credit: Specialized)
A Shimano Dura-Ace mech takes care of chainring shifting from big to small or small to big(Image credit: Specialized)
Colour-coded Tacx Diva cages are known for their light weight and excellent bottle retention(Image credit: Specialized)
A bicycle befitting of the first African leader of the Tour de France Femme(Image credit: Specialized)
While we can’t confirm if Lumarcolors carried out the custom job, the design does look very similar to the checker theme we’ve seen applied to the Tarmac SL8s of Florian Lipowitz and Lorena Wiebes by the Italian bike painting company.
At 1.68m tall, Le Court rides a small frame. To differentiate her bike from those of her teammates, it’s been painted in a yellow gradient hue with a checker treatment that is globally symbolic of racing. The bright-yellow fade is the perfect backdrop for the maker’s name and sponsor logos – here taking the form of Specialized, S-Works and Shimano wordmark logos. The front of the head tube is entirely black in colour to reverse out the Specialized S symbol.
Mauritian flag and the name of a rising star – Kimberley Le Court
(Image credit: Specialized)
Her Specialized S-Works Power EVO with Mirror saddle uses a new translucent 3D lattice
(Image credit: Specialized)
The frame is contrasted equisitely by the gloss-black surfaces of the componentry. As a sponsor of the team, the bike is outfitted in a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset, which takes care of shifting and braking duties. Roval handles much of the ancillary kit, including the Rapide integrated handlebars and 63/58mm Rapide CLX III wrapped in Specialized Turbo Cotton TLR 28C tyres. Other notable additions include the personalised name sticker with Mauritian flag and the recycled inner tube on the right fork leg to house the timing transponder.
An anodised-red threaded CeramicSpeed bottom bracket does more than just bolster the visuals – it lowers friction during pedalling
(Image credit: Specialized)
The K-Edge Garmin mount, complete with Wolfpack symbol is a nice touch
(Image credit: Specialized)
The balance of the build is a meld of functional yet complementary items such as the colour-coded Tacx Diva bottle cages, Supacaz bar tape, and anodised-red K-Edge Garmin computer mount. Another superb addition is the Specialized S-Works Power EVO with Mirror saddle, pictured here with new translucent 3D lattice complete with red base – this not only adds another layer of texture and depth to the bike but also matches the colour of the computer mount and CeramicSpeed bottom bracket cups.
