Latest news with #Vauquelin
France 24
09-07-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Evenepoel triumphs in Tour de France time trial as Pogacar slips into yellow
World and Olympic champion Evenepoel completed the course in 36min 42sec at a blistering average speed of 54 km/h. He finished 16 seconds quicker than Pogacar with the Italian Edoardo Affini 33sec off the stage lead in third. Pogacar now leads the general classification with a 42sec advantage over Evenepoel who collected his second stage win on the Tour de France, having triumphed in the time trial in Gevrey-Chambertin last year on his debut in the Grande Boucle. "I knew I had a good chance but, of course, the legs still have to be there and everything has to go to plan," said Evenepoel whose Soudal Quick-Step team-mate Tim Merlier won stage 3 two days ago. "In the end I think it was pretty good. I didn't really feel like I could go any faster, so I think in general I'm happy with the result. "It's a second stage win for our team, it's super nice." Two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard, who began the day just 8sec behind the yellow jersey Van der Poel, had a poor day as the Dane could only finish 13th in the stage -- 1min 21sec behind Evenepoel -- to slip to 1min 13sec behind Pogacar in the new standings. He drops to fourth overall with local rider Kevin Vauquelin moving up to third after a hugely-impressive ride that saw him finish fifth on the day. "I'm over the moon, really," said an emotional Vauquelin. "I think I can only experience this once in my life. To see everyone looking at me, cheering me on, it's incredible. "For a 24-year-old just starting out in the professional world, it's just incredible." Dutchman Van der Poel also struggled to maintain the pace, coming in 18th, 1min 44sec behind the winner, dropping him down to sixth overall. Evenepoel was the nailed-on favourite to win the stage given his astonishing record in time trials. The Flemish rider, who has been wearing a golden helmet since his Olympic double, is virtually invincible in this exercise. He has won the last six stages in which he has taken part, and nine out of 12 since the start of 2024. This was his 64th career victory, of which 21 have come in time trials. "Tadej rode a very big stage too," said Evenepoel. "Compared to the Dauphine (in June), he took a big step forward. He showed that he's in great form and that he's the man to beat in this Tour. "As for me, I've taken a step towards the podium but there's still a long way to go." Thursday serves up the second longest stage of this year's Tour with 3,500 metres of elevation over a 201.5km route through Normandy which starts in Vauquelin's home town of Bayeux and ends with a short, steep climb to the finish in Vire Normandie. © 2025 AFP
The Citizen
08-07-2025
- Climate
- The Citizen
Kenilworth off, Tour on
The Tour de France offers punters something different each day. A soggy track at Kenilworth is considered too dangerous for racing and Tuesday's race meeting at the Cape Town venue has been postponed to Thursday. This means a second blank day in a row for South African racing and inveterate punters will be itching for bet. Once again, the Tour de France offers something different in that department. No rain is expected on the Tour's 170-odd km stage 4, which finishes in the city of Rouen. After the crash-blighted chaos of stage 3, the riders will nervous – particularly with more stiff winds expected. The Tour guide describes Tuesday's stage as tough with a lot of short and explosive climbs close to the finish. In Rouen we could have a similar finale to that of Sunday, when Mathieu van der Poel won. The current yellow jersey wearer is again among the fancies, but overall race favourites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard – and other general classification contenders – will surely be in the shakedown. Betway's odds on the top choices are: • Mathieu van der Poel – R2.25 for the Win • Tadej Pogacar – R3.75 • Jonas Vingegaard – R13.00 • Romain Gregoire – R15.00 (and R4.50 for a Top 3 place) • Kevin Vaquelin – R15.00 (R4.50 Top 3) The latter two might be a shrewd bet. Tuesday's stage is similar to stage two of the 2024 Tour won by Frenchman Vauquelin, who has shown up well in the early stages of this year's race, finishing 16th on Day 1 and 8th on Sunday. Gregoire was fourth on stage two and is well matched with Vauquelin, who he pipped on a lumpy opening stage of the Tour de Suisse last month. Gregoire also finished a place in front of Vauquelin in the recent French national championship, where the pair were second and third, and the two are undoubtedly the best chances of a first French victory in this year's race.
Gulf Today
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Gulf Today
Almeida dominates time-trial to claim Tour of Switzerland
Joao Almeida of Team UAE said he nearly blew the closing time-trial of the Tour of Switzerland on Sunday before recovering to wrest victory from overnight leader Kevin Vauquelin. 'I think I started too fast,' the Portuguese rider said after the closing 10.1km uphill time-trial. 'I overpaced in the beginning. In the end, I hoped to have enough gas to push in the last kilometre, but in the end it was not necessary.' Almeida beat Austrian Felix Gall by 25 seconds and Frenchman Vauquelin, who was fourth on the day, by 1min 40sec. 'It's a lesson: you should never give up,' said Almeida, who lost the race by 22 seconds last year. 'Sometimes things go wrong and nothing is perfect, but you need to keep trying. We kept trying and we did it.' It was second straight stage victory for Almeida, who had cut Vauquelin's lead to 33 seconds on Saturday. Sunday's ultimately dominant ride meant the Portuguese rider beat Vauquelin by 1:07 in the overall standings. 'I'm super happy. I did a good climb, and I was feeling really good,' Almeida said. Almeida is a team-mate of reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar, who recently won another warm-up race the Criterium du Dauphine. Almeida said he understood what his role would be. 'I'll have time to enjoy this win and I'll be ready for the Tour de France,' Almeida said. 'I'll support Tadej Pogacar there and hope we can get more great wins.' 'I think I started too fast, I over paced in the beginning. In the end, I hoped to have enough gas to push in the last kilometre, but in the end it was not necessary. 'One mistake can cost you a lot; luckily, we could make it up. At the end of the day, it's a lesson: you should never give up. 'Sometimes things go wrong and nothing is perfect, but you need to keep trying. We kept trying and we did it. I'll have time to enjoy this win and I'll be ready for the Tour de France,' he added. Breakout star Scotsman Oscar Onley was third on the day 1:12 behind Almeida and finished third overall 51sec behind Vauquelin. Vauquelin was striving to become he first French rider to win any stage race on the elite road racing World Tour circuit since Christophe Moreau claimed the Criterium du Dauphine in 2007. Meanwhile, Filippo Baroncini wrapped up a breakthrough performance at the Baloise Belgium Tour, defending his overall lead on the final flat stage in Brussels to claim his first-ever stage race GC victory. The Italian moved into the violet leader's jersey after Stage 4 in Durbuy and, with the full backing of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad, held off all challengers to seal the overall classification by a slim but decisive margin. Baroncini said: 'I came into the race in good shape from the Giro, so I knew if things went our way this week something was possible. The goal was to win with the team because Florian was also flying. 'Stage 4 was a great stage for me, the group stayed away and while I didn't win the stage I was able to take the crucial time I needed in the GC .Today the team worked perfectly to defend the jersey so it was an excellent week overall.' Earlier, Florian Vermeersch and Baroncini both delivered classy performances on stage 3 of the Baloise Belgium Tour, placing third and fourth, respectively, to leave UAE Team Emirates-XRG in a strong position. With 10th place on the day, Rune Herregodts ensured that three of the top 10 would come from the Emirati squad on Friday afternoon. With their efforts in the 9.7km-long individual time trial, Vermeersch and Baroncini now sit third and fourth in the general classification, less than 20 seconds off the race lead of stage 3 winner Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step). The British rider pipped Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) to the day's honours in Tessenderlo-Ham. Agencies
France 24
22-06-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Almeida wins time-trial to take Tour of Switzerland
"I think I started too fast," the Portuguese rider said after the closing 10.1km uphill time-trial. "I overpaced in the beginning. In the end, I hoped to have enough gas to push in the last kilometre, but in the end it was not necessary." Almeida beat Austrian Felix Gall by 25 seconds and Frenchman Vauquelin, who was fourth on the day, by 1min 40sec. "It's a lesson: you should never give up," said Almeida, who lost the race by 22 seconds last year. "Sometimes things go wrong and nothing is perfect, but you need to keep trying. We kept trying and we did it." It was second straight stage victory for Almeida, who had cut Vauquelin's lead to 33 seconds on Saturday. Sunday's ultimately dominant ride meant the Portuguese rider beat Vauquelin by 1:07 in the overall standings. "I'm super happy. I did a good climb, and I was feeling really good," Almeida said. Almeida is a team-mate of reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar, who recently won another warm-up race the Criterium du Dauphine. Almeida said he understood what his role would be. "I'll have time to enjoy this win and I'll be ready for the Tour de France," Almeida said. "I'll support Tadej Pogacar there and hope we can get more great wins." Breakout star Scotsman Oscar Onley was third on the day 1:12 behind Almeida and finished third overall 51sec behind Vauquelin. Vauquelin was striving to become he first French rider to win any stage race on the elite road racing World Tour circuit since Christophe Moreau claimed the Criterium du Dauphine in 2007.
