French revelation Vauquelin senses vicious circle for himself and his team after two weeks of Tour de France

Vauquelin had already had a good Tour de Suisse, but after two weeks of the Tour and the Pyrenees, he is still well placed. On Saturday, he moved up to fifth place. “I had good legs throughout the stage, but the pace was a bit hard for me. I fought hard all day. With my teammates from the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team, we were always well placed at the front of the pack.”

“We fought hard to be where we were,” said the Frenchman. “It was a good day. I couldn't see anything in the fog, so I gave it everything I had. That's what I said, I did it. It was one of the biggest stages of the Tour and to be where I am tonight is something I could never have imagined at the start of the year, or even at the start of this Tour de France.”

“It's a good step in my career. There's still a week to go, and no matter what happens next week, our Tour de France is a success. We would never have bet on that at the start of the year,” Vauquelin realizes. “We've all put in a lot of hard work and it's paying off. It's just too good.”

"I'm only thinking of them in the last kilometre, because if I've got this far it's thanks to my team-mates. In fact, I think we're in a virtuous circle. When Arnaud Démare, who has won 97 races in the pros - and I have a bottle at home that dates back to when I started cycling - rides for you, puts his head into the wind, with no ulterior motive for his sprints the next day, that just shows the state of mind we have in this Tour de France," he concludes.