Kevin Vauquelin fights through the controversy and rain to win Etoile de Besseges Stage 4!
Cycling
Through the mist and the rain Kevin Vauquelin has won stage four of the Etoile de Besseges! Behind him, Thomas Champion came second, and Nicolas Breuillard came third to secure an all French podium.
It's been a dramatic few days for the Etoile de Besseges, as a number of teams (including the INEOS Grenadiers) decided to withdraw from the race after a moving vehicle came towards the peloton during Friday's stage 3, sparking serious safety concerns. In fact, only 72 riders were at the start line of the race.
And there was yet more drama on the day, as the stage was shortened due to poor weather. Despite this, Kevin Vauquelin would not let his spirit be dampened as he launched a superb attack that the rest of the peloton could not match.
Arnaud De Lie did try and follow, but he could not compete amongst stronger climbers. Vauquelin has now taken the leaders jersey, and looked to be a man on a mission as he raced up the climb.
Vauquelin, who won stage 2 of the Tour de France last year, produced exactly the kind of performance that Arkea - B&B Hotels needed in a year where they must secure more UCI points to maintain their WorldTour license.
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- All 3 of them went to doping control
Front24223-03-2025