Vauquelin dominates: Time trial and overall victory in decimated Star of Bessèges

Kévin Vauquelin managed to finish first in the final time trial of a rather decimated edition of the Star of Bessèges in France. The GC leader had already taken a significant advantage after his victory on Saturday, but he did not take it for granted. For the second year in a row, the man from Arkéa-B&B Hotels won the time trial.

So, for those who forgot to follow the French race amidst all the cycling violence of the past few days, here's a little resumé. On day two, a car drove onto the course, causing a crash in the peloton. As a result, Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) had to abandon the race after he tumbled into a bush, although his injuries were still relatively minor.

When several similar situations occurred again the next day, things got serious in the peloton. Several big teams did not want to continue in the Star of Besseges, while the smaller French teams logically also had their interests in mind: this is one of the few races in which they can be seen on TV.

Read more below the photo!

Decimated peloton fights for wins

The situation made it difficult for the teams, and 65 riders continued on their way. Lidl-Trek, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, INEOS Grenadiers, EF Education-EasyPost, and Decathlon AG2R were among the teams that dropped out of the race. At the same time, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Lotto gave their riders the choice to decide. Arnaud De Lie agreed to continue and won that chaotic stage.

With Cofidis, Groupama-FDJ, and Arkéa - B&B Hotels, three French WorldTour teams remained in the race, so they dictated the pace in the queen stage on day four. Top favorite Kévin Vauquelin took the stage on the Mont Bouquet and, as the winner of last season's time trial in this race, was also the top favorite for the GC.

Cavagna impresses but Vauquelin is king of France

Brit Oliver Knight (Cofidis) set the first target time, having been riding fanatically on the attack all week. However, Remi Cavagna excelled with a really fast time. The French rider from Groupama-FDJ showed he is one of his country's best time trialists, 25 seconds faster than Knight. Names like Pierre Latour and Thibault Guernalec could not defeat the time, after which it was the turn of the GC riders.

Among those men, Dylan Teuns surprisingly rode a fantastic time trial. He fell short of beating Cavagna, but with a time of 15.28 minutes, he was only two seconds slower. GC leader Vauquelin had a lead of more than a minute, but his Belgian competitor had put some of the pressure on. However, the young French rider did not panic. A strong time from Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ) wasn't enough either, as Vauquelin also won the time trial after Saturday's mountain stage, putting the finishing touches on his race.

Results stage 5 & final classification Star of Besseges 2025

Read also

Bessèges organization responds sharply after incidents, De Jongh points out the real issue: "Only on the same side for a minute of silence..."

🎥 Pro Behrens switched to aero helmet in the heat of Oman for Kooij: "Niklas is new, but worked very well"

📸 Pogacar in Flanders! Slovenian takes a break during recon on a special bench

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Get every week the latest news about CYCLING in your inbox!

Subscribe