Vauquelin's triumph sends Arkéa-B&B soaring: "A wonderful win, also for the team"

Kévin Vauquelin secured the victory of his life in the Tour de France on Sunday. The all-rounder that rides for Arkéa-B&B Hotels proved the strongest from the breakaway in the tough hill stage to Bologna. "I win the second stage of the Tour. That is wonderful, also for the team. It’s the first victory for our team in the Tour," the winner exclaims in the flash interview.

The victory was somewhat unexpected for Vauquelin. The runner-up in this year’s Flèche Wallonne had not had a great preparation. "It’s fantastic. It was a tough day. I didn’t feel very well earlier in the Tour of Switzerland. But today everything went perfectly."

"The peloton let us go," Vauquelin continues. In the breakaway, he had the advantage of being with his teammate Christian Rodríguez, also a strong climber. On the first passage of the steep San Luca, the Spaniard did significant preparatory work. "Rodríguez did an excellent job," the 23-year-old praises his teammate. "There was a lot of power behind his attack. When Laurance (Axel, ed.) attacked, I felt like I still had quite a bit left in the legs. When I finally broke away with Abrahamsen and Oliveira (Jonas and Neilson, ed.), I knew that was the right moment."

Vauquelin: "I often asked about the time gaps"

The trio broke away between the two passages of the San Luca. On paper, Vauquelin was by far the best climber among the three, and he proved it on the San Luca. With a lead of about fifty seconds, he started the flat final phase, and from that point on, things really couldn't go wrong anymore. "I only really believed very late into the stage that it was going to work out. I often asked about the time gaps," said Vauquelin, who clearly didn’t feel too confident in his victory.

Vauquelin has been considered a great talent for years, particularly excelling in stage races and challenging one-day races. The Tour stage is his third pro victory. He previously won the overall classifications of the Tour du Var and the Tour du Jura, a one-day race.

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Team Manager Didier Rous was obviously happy with the Tour victory for his team. "It’s the first. We know how difficult it is to win a Tour stage. Yesterday was a tough day for us, but not every day is the same. We knew that today could go well. Today, things went our way, and we are very pleased with it." Vauquelin's victory has clearly awakened an appetite for more, as Rous is already thinking about Monday, a sprint stage to Turin. "Maybe tomorrow we can also go for the stage win with Démare (Arnaud, ed.). That would make the story even more beautiful."