Kévin Vauquelin stands in 4th position before the last stage
On the eve of the finish in Eibar, Kévin Vauquelin is fourth overall in the Itzulia.
“Another very fast stage in this Tour of the Basque Country, with a breakaway that was never able to get away. It was a long battle, with long passes at the start and then a succession of bumps. It was a bit chaotic in terms of positioning at the finish, and Clément Champoussin and I didn’t manage to find each other. We got there very quickly. I wasn’t in a good position for the sprint, so I wasn’t in with a chance of victory. But I still finished in the first group. I was good in the bumps, which was reassuring. We’ll see tomorrow with the queen stage of this Tour of the Basque Country. I’d like to thank my team-mates Anthony Delaplace, Laurens Huys and Alessandro Verre for their replacement work throughout the stage.”
“The day went well right up to the final part. Before the stage finish, the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team had done its utmost around Kévin Vauquelin, who this evening is 4th in the provisional overall classification of the Tour of the Basque Country. I’m more disappointed about the last three or four kilometres, because he didn’t get the support we needed to get a result. Because I really think we had a chance to do something strong on this stage. So I hope that the riders who didn’t fulfil their mission on Friday will live up to the expectations we’ll be placing on them tomorrow”.