Contrasting day for Kévin Vauquelin.
This Sunday, the Frenchman from Arkéa-B&B Hotels
won the fifth and final stage of the Étoile de Bessèges, a time trial around Alès, but only came within two cruel little seconds of a final victory, ultimately won by Dane Mads Pedersen .
When the 2019 world champion arrived, the 22-year-old rider did not hide his disappointment, which was quickly erased in view of his performance today.
10.645 km of time trials were on the program for this last stage.
Starting penultimate, Kévin Vauquelin first improved the previous best time, which belonged to the Italian Alberto Bettiol, before waiting for the result from Mads Pedersen, who started just after him with his jersey as leader of the general classification.
Faced with the performance of his competitor, the Dane had to work hard on the final climb to limit the damage and save his first place.
A mission accomplished brilliantly.
Third in this time trial, Alberto Bettiol also finished in third place in the general classification, ahead of Ben Healy and Rémy Rochas.
Winner of the second stage on Thursday, the U23 world champion Axel Laurance finally finished in 12th place, 1′03″ behind Mads Pedersen, ahead of Benoît Cosnefroy and Mathieu Burgaudeau, who started their season timidly.
After this great victory, Mads Pedersen will move on to a second stage race, the Tour de la Provence, which will begin in Marseille on February 8.
After a short prologue, three stages are on the program, with a big finish in Arles.
The French Axel Zingle and Bruno Armirail will also participate in this event.