{"id":255798,"date":"2025-07-11T09:15:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T09:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/255798\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T09:15:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T09:15:16","slug":"who-is-kevin-vauquelin-cycling-weekly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/255798\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is K\u00e9vin Vauquelin? | Cycling Weekly"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a green banner strewn across the front of the Joan of Arc school in Bayeux. It was printed specially for Thursday morning \u2013 the day the Tour de France<\/a> came to town \u2013 and shows an old yearbook photo of a cropped-haired teenager. Alongside, there\u2019s a stock picture of a cyclist, and a French tricolour, both apt symbols for the occasion. \u201cAllez K\u00e9vin,\u201d the banner reads. \u201cOur former pupil.\u201d<\/p>\n

The barriers in front of the school trace 100m up to a car park, where the team paddock has assembled. In the middle, Ark\u00e9a-B&B Hotels\u2019 bus is lively with reporters \u2013 a rare occurrence for the Tour\u2019s French minnows. The press haven\u2019t come to speak to the riders, though, nor the team bosses, but rather the family of K\u00e9vin Vauquelin, the local sweetheart, whose home is just a few pedal strokes from stage six\u2019s d\u00e9part.<\/p>\n

K\u00e9vin\u2019s mother, Val\u00e9rie, appears at ease with the microphones. She speaks to the reporters as if they\u2019re old family friends, holding eye contact, and keeping the conversation going well after the cameras have stopped rolling. K\u00e9vin\u2019s father, Bruno, stands beside his wife in a black gilet, adorned with his son\u2019s squad photo on the back. \u201cI hope every parent gets to experience what we\u2019re experiencing,\u201d he says, a wobble in his voice. \u201cHe came second at the Tour de Suisse, now he\u2019s first in the hearts of the French.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"A<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Tom Davidson)<\/p>\n

Stage five\u2019s time trial, held the previous afternoon, had only intensified the fever around the home hope. Fifth on the day, the 24-year-old\u2019s time across the line was not enough to save his white jersey, but it catapulted him to third in the general classification, behind Remco Evenepoel<\/a> and Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a>. The wall of noise that welcomed him in Caen after his effort was so loud, passersby might’ve thought he’d won the stage. TV cameras flocked around him as he collapsed over his handlebars.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was incredible. I couldn\u2019t feel my legs. All the fans, all the support…\u201d Vauquelin began, still catching his breath. \u201cI\u2019m in heaven. Thank you so much for all these emotions. I don\u2019t have any words.\u201d<\/p>\n

The French have long built impassioned ties with their own riders. It’s been 40 years since a home rider last won the Tour de France \u2013 Bernard Hinault\u2019s fifth success \u2013 but that fact has mattered little to the fans. The French, at their core, are dreamers, their passion deepened by stories of heartache and nearly-men. It\u2019s why they adored riders like Laurent Fignon, 1989\u2019s runner-up by eight seconds, Romain Bardet<\/a>, who scaled well but never reached the top step, and Thibaut Pinot<\/a>, the sentimentalist whose emotions were felt by the public.<\/p>\n

Now, Vauquelin\u2019s in the spotlight. \u201cIt\u2019s just incredible to be here,\u201d he tells reporters in Bayeux. Behind him, a group of fans shout his first name over and over. \u201cAll these people, it\u2019s mad,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s come together in a way I could never have imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"K\u00e9vin<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

After winning a Tour stage<\/a> last year, Vauquelin\u2019s career has kicked on rapidly; he won the five-day \u00c9toile de Bess\u00e8ges, the four-day R\u00e9gion Pays de la Loire Tour, finished second at La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne to Poga\u010dar<\/a>, and placed runner-up at the Tour de Suisse, too.<\/p>\n

He’s aware that his profile has boomed in France \u2013 how could he miss it? \u2013 but the popularity doesn\u2019t faze him. All the clamour means \u201cthe hard work\u2019s paying off,\u201d he smiles. \u201cI\u2019m trying to make the most of it all and use it to push me to my limits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he now sits just shy of a podium place, it\u2019s unlikely Vauquelin will target the yellow jersey this year. His team, Ark\u00e9a, has among the smallest budgets on the WorldTour, threatened too with closure<\/a>, and the Frenchman has never ridden for GC over three weeks. Besides, he never came to challenge the superstars; he just hoped to stir up the first week and enjoy racing at home \u2013 two things he has already achieved.<\/p>\n

There’s still another box to tick, however: \u201cI mainly want to try and win a stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

If he does, like he did last year in Bologna, the French public will erupt. Vauquelin’s name will be heard outside of the sport, his family will welcome more media than ever, and his face, still with the cropped hair of his school days, will decorate newsstands across the country.<\/p>\n

The boy from Bayeux, the humble Norman town known for its tapestry, is threading his story into France’s cycling cloth. He’s already conquered hearts, now he’s after more Tour success. \u201cI\u2019m enjoying every moment,\u201d he says. \u201cWhatever happens, I\u2019ll have a smile on my face.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a green banner strewn across the front of the Joan of Arc school in Bayeux. It was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4104],"tags":[4230,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-255798","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114833845462950341","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}