"I could tell Remco Evenepoel didn’t want me there" - Kevin Vauquelin feels the tension of the Tour de France on stage 7

Kevin Vauquelin continues to be a bright light for the Arkéa - B&B Hotels team at the 2025 Tour de France. After another strong showing on the brutal stage 7 finale atop the Mur-de-Bretagne, the French prospect remains sat 3rd overall in the general classification. 

On stage 7 however, Vauquelin noted a clear rising in the tension levels of the peloton, with his White Jersey rival Remco Evenepoel the most significant name to be feeling the pressure in the opinion of the former Tour de France stage winner.

"It was full gas up the climb. I was well positioned, right on Jonas Vingegaard's wheel, but unfortunately Ilan Van Wilder (Evenepoel's domestique ed.) caused a split in the corner, so I had to go flat out right from the bottom," reflected Vauquelin in his post-stage interview afterwards, in comments collected by L'Equipe. "I could tell Remco didn’t want me there. He was nervous because he’d done all the work on the climb — not to win the stage, but to create gaps in the overall standings."

"That didn’t play in my favour, especially when Jhonatan Narváez came back before the top. I couldn’t find a way back into position," he continues. "And I’d put in such a big effort at the bottom, it was still a bit too far out."

Despite this though, Vauquelin matched almost every move, only losing 2 seconds at the line to Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard. "No regrets," he concludes firmly. "The strongest guys were up front.”