"The time trial is far too difficult for me to gauge" - Kevin Vauquelin doesn't have illusions about keeping the leader's jersey

After four stages in the yellow jersey, the provisonal leader of Tour de Suisse Romain Grégoire succumbed to a pressure from his opponents and dropped out of the general classification. But French fans don't need to shed tears because Kevin Vauquelin takes over from his younger compatriot after a strong ride and a 4th place in Santa Maria in Calanca.

"I finally managed to get it (the yellow jersey)," he told L'Équipe at the finish line. "I'm happy that the work is paying off, work of several years. I did fewer big races as a teenager, so my body was missing such hard mountain efforts. I think I've turned a corner. I knew it was going to be a big day, so I wanted to focus on myself and my efforts. That's what I did on the last climb. I felt really good."

"I tried to put everything in at the end. I admit that Julian's (Alaphilippe) attack crucified me a bit. I lost ground on Oscar (Onley, the stage winner) at that point, I couldn't come back. And Felix (Gall) was a little bit above, so I made my climb."

Thus Vauquelin becomes the new overall leader with 29 seconds over Julian Alaphilippe and 39 seconds to Joao Almeida. While the following two stages don't expect major shifts in the GC, the final uphill time trial will be a big challenge for the Frenchman. Any plans? "No calculation, it's a time trial that's far too difficult for me to gauge. I'm going to fight until the end, but my Tour de Suisse was more than successful," he concludes.