"I knew that was the right moment" - Kevin Vauquelin confirms immense potential with solo stage win on Tour de France debut

Having long been touted as a potential star of French cycling's future, Kevin Vauquelin has confirmed his immense potential on stage 2 of the 2024 Tour de France, soloing to a stunning stage win from the breakaway.

"I win the second stage of the Tour. That is wonderful, also for the team. It is the first victory of this team in the Tour. It is fantastic," reflected a beaming 23-year-old Frenchman in his post-stage interview having, as mentioned brought not only his first Grand Tour stage win, but Arkéa - B&B Hotels' first ever Tour de France triumph.

As mentioned, this is not the first sign of Vauquelin's potential. Already this year he has finished runner up at La Fleche Wallonne. More recently however, things haven't been going quite as well for the French prodigy. "I did not feel too good earlier in the Tour de Suisse," he recalls. "Today, however, everything went perfectly."

Part of the day's breakaway, Vauquelin waited and waited before launching his attacks, following the moves of others until the time was right. "Cristian Rodríguez did a great job," he says praising his teammates work in the leading group. "There was a lot of power behind his attack. When Axel Laurance attacked, I had the feeling that I still had quite a bit left. When I finally rode away with Jonas Abrahamsen and Nelson Oliveira, I knew that was the right moment."

"It was only very late that I really believed that it would work. I often asked for the time differences," he concludes. The team's sports director was also full of joy in his own post-stage interview. "It's the first. We know how difficult it is to win a Tour stage. Yesterday was a difficult day for us, but not every day is the same. We knew that today could go well. Today it went our way, and we are very happy with it," says Didier Rous. "Maybe tomorrow we can also go for the stage win with Arnaud Démare. That would make the story even better."