Kévin Vauquelin, Arnaud Démare and Cristian Rodríguez hunt Tour de France wins for hungry Arkéa lineup
Cycling
Arkéa - B&B Hotels is a team under serious risk of ending this season and all it's riders have been given the green light to pursue contracts elsewhere. However, with the Tour de France - the team's biggest goal of the season - now starting, there is a final effort to potentially save the team and it brings in a lineup to chase stage wins with a lot of quality.
Kévin Vauquelin comes in after a second place at a Tour de Suisse where he led for many days and a podium at both national championships events. The Frenchman is carrying a lot of firepower and will want to match the achievement of last year where he won stage 2 of the race into Bologna. Cristian Rodríguez, recent winner of the Mercan'Tour Classic and second place at the Andorra MoraBanc Classic could well also race in pursuit of wins in the mountains, or even try to crack into the Top10 - he was 13th last year at La Vuelta.
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"Despite his young age, Kévin Vauquelin will be the centerpiece of the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team in this Tour de France. He has already lived up to expectations in this event, and his condition in June demonstrates that he is approaching this race in the best physical and mental condition," team DS Didier Rous said in a press release. "He can achieve one, or even more, results in this Tour de France".
On Rodríguez, Arkéa is quite positive: "He will be expected to perform in the mountain stages, an area in which his climbing skills can allow him to express himself. He must also be a support to his leaders during the hilly stages and for punchers, as he was able to do perfectly in the Bologna stage in 2024".
The team will have Ewen Costiou and Raul García Pierna also hunting wins on the hilly days, with some decent chances of potentially succeeding; whilst the other four men will focus on the flat days. Arnaud Démare comes in for his seventh Tour and will have the support of Amaury Capiot and Clément Venturini in the leadouts; whilst Mathis Le Berre is expected to be a common figure in the breakaways throughout the race.
"We chose to put Arnaud in this Tour de France because in the last races he has done, he has proven that with a reduced number of riders to carry him, he can manage good sprints. He recently demonstrated in Copenhagen that he is in good condition, and that he has found good reflexes during mass finishes. It is up to him to confirm this in the Tour de France".
Arkéa - B&B Hotels to Tour de France:
Raul García Pierna
Arnaud Démare
Amaury Capiot
Kévin Vauquelin
Cristián Rodríguez
Ewen Costiou
Mathis Le Berre
Clément Venturini
Raul García Pierna
Arnaud Démare
Amaury Capiot
Kévin Vauquelin
Cristián Rodríguez
Ewen Costiou
Mathis Le Berre
Clément Venturini
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𝗨𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗹𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗶𝗿𝗲 🏆
— ARKEA-B&B HOTELS (@arkeabbhotels) June 30, 2025
Les huit rouge et noir s'élanceront samedi, pour un Tour de France avec une touche bretonne et une seule idée en tête : 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙨.
🔗 https://t.co/oQWbQvxfop pic.twitter.com/JEcF6aKAZU
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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santiagobenites10-11-2026 - great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
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