The day after: Kévin Vauquelin wins queen stage in Bessèges and takes leader’s jersey from Arnaud De Lie

Before diving into the stage itself, here’s a quick recap of Friday’s dramatic events and what led up to this moment in Étoile de Bessèges. In Stage 2, a car drove into the peloton, triggering a chain reaction crash that forced Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) to abandon the race.

That was already a major incident, but the following day, multiple similar events occurred, leading the peloton to halt the race in protest. The race organizers were not pleased, resulting in a standstill. As a consequence, several major teams withdrew from the race, including Lidl-Trek, EF Education-EasyPost, Soudal Quick-Step, INEOS, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, Decathlon AG2R, Uno-X, Unibet Tietema Rockets, and eventually Equipo Kern Pharma. Meanwhile, Lotto Dstny and Alpecin-Deceuninck chose to continue racing with a smaller group.

In the end, 78 riders finished the stage—including Cofidis, Groupama-FDJ, and Arkéa - B&B Hotels among the WorldTour teams, along with several smaller French and Belgian squads. Why? Interests, interests, and more interests. "The only time riders and teams are united is when there’s a minute of silence before a race start," Lidl-Trek sports director Steven de Jongh remarked on social media, summing up the situation.

Regardless, racing went ahead on Saturday, though the stage was shortened due to the rainy conditions in France. Four riders broke away early to form the day’s leading group: Alexys Brunel (TotalEnergies), Simon Dehairs (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Victor Vercouillie (SportVlaanderen-Baloise) and Killian Theot (Van Rysel-Roubaix) were the names, Arkéa - B&B Hotels took control in the peloton.

As the race progressed, several climbs totaling 16 kilometers were removed from the course, meaning the peloton reached Mont Bouquet sooner than expected. The breakaway started the climb with a small gap, but Arkéa - B&B Hotels' strong pace reeled them in before reaching the steepest sections.

The final 2.7-kilometer climb saw Groupama-FDJ set the pace, ultimately dropping race leader Arnaud De Lie. With one kilometer to go, Kévin Vauquelin launched a decisive attack, sealing the stage win and effectively securing overall victory. The Frenchman had already won this same race last year, making this an early season statement in his bid for back-to-back titles.

The victory also delivered crucial points for Arkéa - B&B Hotels, a team battling to avoid relegation. However, rumors suggest the squad may lose its WorldTour license regardless of its ranking next season. With Vauquelin’s victory in cold conditions, the team got its 2025 campaign off to a strong start, standing out as one of the few top-tier squads remaining in the 2.1-level race.