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French revelation Kévin Vauquelin clearly isn’t overawed at racing the superstars of the Tour de France.
Vauquelin – currently third on GC between Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard – called out the Belgian’s tactics after a raucous GC battle up Mûr-de-Bretagne on Friday.
“Remco didn’t want me there. He was afraid,” Vauquelin told Eurosport after Friday’s 7th stage.
The 24-year-old breakout Vauquelin was briefly gapped when the race exploded on the Mûr in Friday’s explosive finale.
Evenepoel, Vingegaard, and race dominator Tadej Pogačar pulled clear, and the Quick-Step leader worked to drive the pace.
Vauquelin told Eurosport that Evenepoel was more interested in dropping him than pressuring the “big two.”
“The pace was full gas. I was well-positioned but unfortunately Ilan Van Wilder caused a split in the corner,” Vauquelin said. “Because of that, I had to sprint from the bottom [to catch back on].
“I noticed that Remco didn’t want me to be there,” Vauquelin said, referring to how Evenepoel drilled the pace ahead of Vingegaard and Pogačar.
“He [Evenepoel] was afraid, because he rode the entire climb at the front. Not to win the stage, but to gain time in the general classification,” Vauquelin told Eurosport.
Vauquelin flames French hopes
Vauquelin gave the massed crowds on the Mûr something to cheer for Friday by crossing the line with Evenepoel.
The result leaves him poised a mere 17 seconds back on Evenepoel in both the general and young rider classifications.
“I have no regrets,” Vauquelin said Friday after the stage. “The strongest riders were at the front.”
Vauquelin is lighting up French hopes at this Tour de France.
The nation is still reeling from the recent retirements of Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet, and suffering from its close view of Julian Alaphilippe’s downturn.
It’s now been 40 years since the hosts saw a home Tour de France winner.
Beyond that, Vauquelin’s Breton team Arkéa-B&B Hotels is in desperate need of positive press as it struggles with a sponsorship crisis.
The official enthronement of Vauquelin number one in the hearts of the French.
The grannies will know his name, the children will chase him in the ass of the bus, Laurent Luyat will talk about it as soon as it will be necessary to warm the bicycle club plateau.
Kévin Vauquel1. pic.twitter.com/bpPMfuvNu5
– In the musette (@danslamusette) July 11, 2025
How far Vauquelin goes in this Tour de France won’t be decided by any dubious pulls from Evenepoel.
He won a stage last year at the Tour de France, twice came close at La Flèche Wallonne, and was an impressive second overall last month at Suisse.
But he’s never stitched it together over three weeks.
The Pyrénées next week will either flame or fizzle French hopes.
Wars of words in a fraught first week of the Tour de France
Vauquelin isn’t the only protagonist of the Tour de France to make some spicy comments this week.
The Visma-Lease a Bike and UAE Emirates-XRG super teams have been bickering over tactics through a series of explosive, classics-style stages across northern France.
Visma-Lease a Bike director Grishcha Niermann weighed in on the super team spat Friday.
The DS brushed off Tadej Pogačar’s criticism of “The Bees” and their perceived attempt to keep the Slovenian in the yellow jersey when Ben Healy won stage 6 through Normandie.
“It’s a good thing Pogačar doesn’t get yellow. We followed our own strategy and did exactly what we set out to do. Period,” Niermann told Sporza ahead of stage 7 on Friday morning.
“What do I think of the criticism? I think it’s a compliment that he’s interfering with us,” Niermann said. “We look at ourselves, determine our own tactics and we don’t interfere.”
Pogacar: “Visma didn’t annoy me yesterday, they annoyed other riders more, the ones who wanted to get in the break. If Visma tries, there’s little chance it goes all the way. They just made the start of the stage harder for everyone. For us, it didn’t bother us.” #TDF2025 https://t.co/qs5NmoAGFr
– The red flame (@laflammmeouge16) July 11, 2025
Tensions will likely simmer down through a double-header of sprint stages this weekend.
Will they boil back up in Monday’s gruelling mid-mountain showdown in the Massif Central?
Most likely.
