“There is really a lot of fatigue in the peloton …”
He (Vauquelin) is behind you, he animated this start of Tour de France, and we are on July 14 … He must win?
He has to win? I would say that all the steps are good to win. Whether it is July 14 or another day, they are all difficult to win on the Tour de France. There is a lot of competition, as we always say, all the teams align their best runners. For the moment, it's been ten days tomorrow that the tour is gone, it is starting to be long. There was no rest. I think that Tuesday, everyone will be happy to have this little day of rest. As we can see, even the sprinters teams today lack labor. Even the big teams like Visma, we see that it is complicated for them too, to make borders and others. There is really a lot of fatigue in the peloton. And tomorrow, it's the stage … I would say that it will be one of the most difficult of this tower. Already because it is going to be hot, and then because there is not a meter of dish. It is mounted and descending all day. This is the kind of step that can be even harder than a high mountain stage.
We have just done an interview with Kevin, and what strikes is his self -mockery. Do you understand that?
I understand, yes. And somewhere, that's what we are all looking for. The idea is not to put him in pressure, to live day by day. We will see how it will happen, day after day. It is also a way to get out of the pressure. We do not put it, we do not put in the team, nor to any other runner. So yes, in the race, a little, because you have to be placed, there are strategic places. But all, as much as they are, play their role, and they are present where they are expected.
“It is sure that if he continues like that, sportingly, it would be huge …”
If you, Didier Rous, had to give advice to Kevin Vauquelin for this July 14, what would it be?
The advice that we can – and that we are going – give him is that it will be a step where we will really have to hang on. There will surely be difficult moments, both physically and psychologically. But today, given his condition, everything is fine, so there is no reason why it goes bad tomorrow. The message is simple: make your step, give everything, and we'll see what's going on. From now on, everything that happens is bonus. Even if he waste a little time, it does not matter. There will be other occasions, other stages, and he has the capacity to win one. Tomorrow, there may very well be an explanation between the strong peloton, it is possible. Nothing is written in advance. This is why we will have to be attentive, vigilant, and above all to analyze the strategy of other teams.
If Kevin still ends at the top of Mont-Dore in 3rd position in general, what do you say to yourself?
That he would have had a great day, it would be one more, and frankly, there would be nothing to complain about. As I say from the start – and it's not the tongue of wood – the Tour de France, it's hard. Very hard. There are extremely demanding collars, and Kevin, today, has never made a mountain stage on the Tour with the best. That's why we are moving on day by day. We'll see what's going on, as simply as that. He still lacks experience, benchmarks at this level. We cannot project ourselves too far. You have to live day by day.
And if he ever holds, so much the better! And if he cracks, well … it's like that, it's life. Behind, there will still be stages where he can express himself. We came to this tour with the goal of winning a stage, because we knew from the start that we had the team for, especially with Kevin. Today, the fact that he is 3rd to the general, it blocks us a little. I ask you the question: who spontaneously remembers the one who finished 3rd in the tour last year? Not many people. While a stage victory, we remember it. Now, if he continues at this level, sportingly it is obviously a huge perf. Just the first 9 or 10 days he has done, it is already very, very, very high level. He is with the best of the Tour, those who target the general, and he was in the match almost every day, except on the three steps of Sprint. It reflects the level he currently has.
Are you surprised by all this?
Surprised ? No. Because Kevin is a very very good. Last year, everyone said: “One day the Tour General, why not.” But before that, you have to lay the foundations: be present on the stages with the strongest, pass the mountain stages, the time trial … And there, he has nothing more to prove: he is able to play with the best. There are now the main stages of passes. A week, he has already held it, he proved it in Switzerland. Now it's a question of crossing the steps, one by one.
Are you prudent … but do you want to see?
Of course I want to see! We all want to see. But now, we go there little by little, without pressure, and we will see the rest.
