Yvon Ledanois: "Kévin has once again reached a milestone"
Kévin Vauquelin finished 8th overall in the final classification of the Tour du Pays Baque, his best result in a week-long UCI World Tour stage race.
Photos : Getty Images
“This final stage of the Tour of the Basque Country lived up to all its promises. It was fast all day, with this big breakaway getting a good lead. I wasn’t far behind the McNulty, Bilbao and Del Toro group on the penultimate climb of the day. I missed a bit. I finished 8th in this very tough Tour of the Basque Country. My overall classification is better than the one I achieved in Tirreno-Adriatico. It’s good to feel that I still have room for improvement, and that gives me great motivation to keep working in training and improve in certain areas. I’m still learning, and this year it’s at the highest level, in the World Tour. I’m now going to recuperate before setting off again soon on a cycle of one-day races”.
“Not much was missing for Kévin Vauquelin on Saturday’s queen stage of the Tour of the Basque Country, when he finished on top of the penultimate climb of the day in the company of Bilbao and Del Toro, which would have allowed him to remain in the top 5 in the final overall classification. Now the decision was made on the pedal, so there are no regrets. What I want to remember is that Kévin has once again reached a milestone in this Tour of the Basque Country. He finished 8th overall, which confirms his performance in Tirreno-Adriatico. It bodes well for the next one-day races on his programme. I’m satisfied with the final result, even if I knew it was going to be difficult against a UAE team that came here in almost the same configuration as it will have for the next Tour de France. Kévin didn’t give up, and above all he’s gradually putting things in place. And that’s the most important thing for me.