“A hot air balloon with my mouth, do you realize?” … In the wheel of Kévin Vauquelin, celebrated at home like a star

The Norman runner, born in Bayeux, a departure town of the sixth stage, is fourth in the general classification after Thursday.

He does not take the big head, but it was nevertheless his face which was displayed in size XXL on a hot air balloon in his village, in Juaye-Mondaye (Normandy). Star French Tour from the start in Lille, Kévin Vauquelin was running at home, Thursday, July 10, on the 6th stage from Bayeux, where he started cycling. And in addition to many supporters acquired to his cause, his relatives had organized him surprises on the side of the road.

“I saw a hot air balloon with my mouth on it, do you realize or not?”laughed Kévin Vauquelin on arrival. “We have been organizing this for four months, and it was not easy. We crossed our fingers for the weather”trusts his pope, Brown. A budget of 8 000 euros was necessary to put this surprise in place, which his fan club did not have in his funds, and which was harvested thanks to the help of his family and his friends.

And the secret around the surprise was then kept well. “There are lots of guys in the peloton who came to see me to tell me that they had chills, even Jonas (Awesome). Quentin pacher (Groupama-FDJ) Also, and he really had the chills this idiot (laughs) ! And beyond surprise, it is especially full of memories, because this hot air balloon belongs to a neighbor, who often took her out in the field next to the summer. And we were going to see her after taking the snack in front of the TV tour. So see her with my photo on it, it was even stronger “, tells the Norman runner, darling of his region on the way to becoming that of the French public.

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Already a little earlier in the day, the scene was quite unusual in the paddock of team buses at the start : apart from that of La Visma-Lease A Bike, where journalists were rushing to find out how Jonas Vingegaard could reverse the trend, it was well around that of Arkéa-B & B Hotels that the effervescence was the most important. To see the local hero, out of the bus with a disposable camera to immortalize the moment. By his side, his relatives surrounded him, with his best friends, his partner, his brother, and his parents, his eyes fogged. “What emotions, we live a crazy thing. It is the child of the country, it is also a media pressure at onceeven cried Valérie, her mother. Kévin makes us experience exceptional things that I wish to all parents “.

Emotion, the main interested party already felt a lot too, the day before, on the arrival of the time. “I had a little leg pain, but the heart and the lungs were still in reserve. I am with angels, I don't even have the words. I can thank Christian Prudhomme and Thierry Gouvenou (for the course). Going home is a lot of emotions, I want to shithe confided. It is said that every day is enough for its pain, but it is not difficult that I have been suffering for a few days. Everyone who looks at me, while I am a 24 -year -old who is starting to discover himself in the professional world, it's amazing “.

Because if this stay at home was not enough, Kévin Vauquelin benefits even more as the third in the general classification of the Tour de France (fourth after the stage). “”Even Pogacar does not let him go forward, Extassie Dylan, his 20 -year -old little brother. We would never have thought that when we were kids and we watched the tour on TV. We saw runners like Chris Froome, and now he is a pretender to the yellow jersey. We don't believe it and I think that he himself does not believe it “continued his brother, who responded to “Six or seven interviews” At the start. “The craze was already enormous in Caen, and today there are only for Kévin. We are a bit of stars today, there is only emotion, the parents are collapsed“He continues.

If he confides that his elder is already beginning to be tired after a week of the round, as much by the race as by the requests, the youngest of the Vauquelin brothers is also a little exhausted after a tiring night to prepare animations in Juaye-Mondaye. “We started at five in the morning, to make a fan zone with a fan club. There are 1 000 or 1 500 people there “he explains.

In addition to the hot air balloon, his relatives also emerged his first bike, exposed on a raised straw ballot. Surprises to which many “Kévin” have been added on the road all over the course, and signs to encourage it. Spectators would surely have liked to see their darling in the victorious escape, but the yellow jersey, Tadej Pogacar, did not let him go forward, as well as Remco Evenepoel considering it too close to the general classification of the white jersey: the ransom of glory. “You had to try. I put an attack and immediately Quick-Step rolled, it's normal, it's the race. I didn't have my outing, so no regret”said the Norman at the end of the stage.

He finally finished 14th, in the company of the Tour Cadors, while this huge spotlight on the Normand could also be very beneficial in Arkéa-B & B Hotels, in search of visibility to find sponsors and survive. “It all happens at the right time and I hope Manu (Emmanuel Hubert, team manager) will receive calls “supports Kévin Vauquelin.