Kimberley Le Court overcame a mechanical failure before winning a sprint finish to seal victory in stage six of the Tour de France Femmes on Thursday, as Swiss rider Marlen Reusser held on to the overall lead.

Le Court of AG Insurance-Soudal, who also crashed early on in the stage, was forced her to change bike just 15 km from the end.

The Mauritian fought her way back into contention shortly before the day’s final climb, forming part of a small eight-rider breakaway group 10 km from the finish.

Le Court, 30, had just enough performance left to launch a sprint with 300m to go, holding off French rider Cedrine Kerbaol on the line to seal victory, with Puck Pieterse of the Netherlands taking third place.

Movistar’s Reusser retains the yellow jersey after the 153.4km ride from Montbrison to Tournon-sur-Rhone, holding a 12-second lead over Dutch rider Demi Vollering.

Friday’s stage seven – the queen stage – on the nine-stage event is 146.8km from La Voulte-sur-Rhone to the summit finish at the famous Mont Ventoux in the French Alps.

This was Le Court’s second stage victory in the Tour de France Femmes following her win in stage five last year from Chasseneuil-du-Poitou to Gueret.

Le Court said her team was “amazing” during her bike change, adding: “They brought me back slowly but surely to the bunch, and I got back on top of the [second-to] last climb, which was a really big effort.

“Then I just tried to stay patient and recover from this big effort.

“I had to close the gap myself and I was really, really dead, I was on the limit. I can’t believe I still had the legs to sprint.”

Tour de France Femmes stage six results

1. Kim Le Court (Mau, AG Insurance-Soudal) 4hours, 1 minute and 48 seconds

2. Cedrine Kerbaol (Fra, EF Education-Oatly) same time

3. Puck Pieterse (Ned, Fenix-Premier Tech)

4. Sarah Van Dam (Can, Visma-Lease A Bike)

5. Celia Gery (Fra, FDJ United-Suez)

6. Liana Lippert (Ger, Movistar)

7. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita, UAE Team L’Imad) +2secs

8. Riejanne Markus (Ned, Lidl-Trek) +5secs

9. Dominika Wlodarczyk (Pol, UAE Team L’Imad) +28secs

10. Noemi Ruegg (EF Education-Oatly)

Tour de France Femmes general classification after stage six

1. Marlen Reusser (Swi/Movistar) 19hrs 43mins 34secs

2. Demi Vollering (Ned/FDJ–Suez) +12secs

3. Kasia Niewiadoma (Pol/Canyon–SRAM) +1min 17secs

4. Elisa Longo Borghini (Ita/UAE Team-L’imad) +2min 28secs

5. Antonia Niedermaier (Ger/Canyon–SRAM) +2min 40secs

6. Dominika Wlodarczyk (Pol/UAE Team-L’imad) +2min 54secs

7. Isabella Holmgren (Can/Lidl-Trek) +3mins 5secs

8. Cedrine Kerbaol (Fra/EF Education-Oatly) +3min 7secs

9. Kim Le Court (Mau, AG Insurance-Soudal) +3mins 26secs

10. Paula Blasi (Spa/UAE Team ADQ) +3min 51secs