"Maybe he recognizes something of himself in me" - INEOS' new leader on Geraint Thomas and pursuit of Tour de France yellow jersey

INEOS Grenadiers are still active in the market despite it already being in Spain for their first training camp, and one of the men who's made the trip if Kévin Vauquelin, it's - so far - star signing, who is aiming for Tour de France success.

"It's the second training camp... And it's all in English, so it really takes me out of my comfort zone. But I share a room with Victor [Langellott], who has helped me enormously, and all the riders are happy that I'm trying to speak English," Vauquelin shared with L'Équipe.

The former Arkéa - B&B Hotels rider was a priority signing after the French team's demise. He has shown on repeated occasions to be good in the hilly classics and short stage-races, being a very versatile rider; however at the Tour de France he finally proved himself as a Grand Tour contender as well, racing to seventh place in Paris.

He now finds former INEOS rider Geraint Thomas as his new director, and believes there may be a connection between the two taking into considering his development. "Maybe he recognizes something of himself in me when he was younger, because we're both good time trialists, and I made my Tour de France debut in a similar way".

"And we can agree on our way of thinking and working. It will certainly be a great asset to have such an experienced rider with a great track record and his own unique approach... It's really exciting, and I'm so glad he said that."

His season ended at the Grand Boucle, as days later he would suffer a fracture in the leg after a home accident. It has taken a surprisingly high amount of time for him to recover, and it was the logic decision not to take again in 2025 seeing as Arkéa was also coming to an end. "That's going well; the hard work is starting to pay off. I've been working a lot with physiotherapists and doing strength training... It might be a new learning experience, actually; it allows me to train better. As Dave Brailsford rightly says: I have to take my time."

Now in 2026 he faces a completely new environment, and may reach into his untapped potential. The 24-year old is clear that he wants to become a better stage-racer and specially develop into races such as the Tour de France, naturally. "I had to decide what I preferred: going all out to win stages or being very focused for three weeks. For now, I feel like I'm on the right track and I'm aiming for the general classification. Anyway, every rider dreams of winning the Tour de France, so I have to keep going".

The Tour is his ultimate goal, although he puts as much emphasis in wearing the yellow jersey as in finishing high up in the final classification. "This summer, thanks to the fans, I experienced something so special that I want to go back. And now the dream is the yellow jersey," he admits. "I missed it by a hair's breadth (he was for several days in third, ed.), it really made me angry, and now I want revenge. I haven't had that yellow jersey yet... that's the dream,"