"I really thought there was a chance, but he played his team tactics" - Kevin Vauquelin critical of Matteo Jorgenson

Kevin Vauquelin is riding around with phenomenal legs these last weeks and wished to prove that in the first of punchy stages scheduled for the first week of the 2025 Tour de France. The Arkéa - B&B Hotels rider attacked multiple times in the finale, but ultimately could not make the difference and arrived 8th.

"On the first hill in the finale, I had to move up in the peloton, and that's when I realised that my legs were feeling good and that I had a chance to make my move," Vauquelin tells his story of the day in an interview after the stage.

Aware of a brief stalemate between favourites, the Frenchman was ready to risk it all with a swift acceleration in the downhill: "I thought that there might be some marking between the favourites and that I would take advantage of that. I attacked several times, I tried hard and maybe a little too hard."

One of his moves seemed quite promising when Visma | Lease a Bike's Matteo Jorgenson followed Vauquelin, but it didn't work out either: "When I was with Matteo Jorgenson, I really thought there was a chance because he's very strong, but he didn't cooperate, he played his team tactics."

"I have a few regrets because I would have liked to cross the line first, but it means that my legs are good," the Frenchman sounds somewhat satisfied with the day despite not winning. "I'm feeling upbeat every day and I enjoy every moment. With these legs and the positioning I had today, I can be hopeful, for example on the Rouen stage."

A small consolidation prize for Vauquelin can be the white jersey he claimed today with a 31 seconds advantage over Joe Blackmore. "The white jersey isn't exactly a goal, I mainly want to try and win a stage, but if I can ride on the roads of my region [Normandy] in this jersey, that would be exceptional. The important thing for me is to manage to stay in this form for the first ten days."