As if the queen stage wasn’t enough in itself, the riders of the Étoile de Bessèges also had to deal with terrible weather this Saturday towards Le Mont Bouquet. Very reduced since the day before, the peloton still arrived together in the final climb, where Kevin Geniets gave his all to take fourth place, forty-seven seconds behind the winner and new leader Kévin Vauquelin. Rémi Cavagna finished just outside the top-10 while the Luxembourger climbed to third place overall on the eve of the closing time trial.
One hundred and fifty-five kilometres were initially planned on the fourth and penultimate stage of the Étoile de Bessèges, this Saturday. In the end, the runners “only” covered one hundred and twenty, because of the terrible weather conditions that followed them from kilometre 0 to the summit of Mont Bouquet. “It rained a lot all day,” explained Frédéric Guesdon. “On top of that, it was four degrees. Even though things got lively at the start, the boys quickly felt cold with their wet clothes, and it quickly turned into a miserable day for them. The organizer reacted well, however, first by removing a twenty-kilometre loop even before the start, then during the race by shortening the stage. Twenty kilometers more wouldn’t have changed anything to the day’s outcome. Throughout the day, the guys cheered on each other. To tell them that the course was shortened, that hot tea was waiting for them a few kilometers further on, also helped to boost their morale a bit. Then, once they got into the last twenty-five kilometers, the race really started, the intensity went up a notch, and they forgot the struggles of the beginning of the stage.”
“Kevin is where he’s supposed to be”, Frédéric Guesdon
On the race side, a five-man breakaway established itself after about thirty minutes at the start, but the peloton remained in control all day and finally caught the last attackers at the foot of Mont Bouquet (4.6 km at 9.1%). Groupama-FDJ positioned perfectly with their leader Kevin Geniets, who was able to follow the first accelerations. Rémi Cavagna came back on the leading group at his own pace after a kilometre of climbing, but no one was able to react to Kévin Vauquelin’s attack 2,500 metres from the summit. The Luxembourg champion then found himself in a second group and was forced to let two other competitors slip away as he approached the finish. He then claimed fourth place on the day. “I was extremely cold during the stage, but I didn’t let it get me down,” he said. “I told myself that I just had to give it my all on the last climb, and that’s what I did. I tried to find my pace, and it went pretty well considering the day we had.” “We can’t have regrets,” confirmed Frédéric. “We were obviously looking at Vauquelin, but when he attacked, Kevin didn’t have the legs to go with him. He’s where he’s supposed to be.”
Rémi Cavagna also fought well to take eleventh place in this summit finish. “It shows that he’s in good shape,” added Frédéric. “I think he wants to take confidence, and it’s good that he’s doing it in the first stages to keep his momentum going in the next races.” The former French champion will also be expected tomorrow in the time trial, which will finish with a climb. “We’re hoping for good performance by Rémi and also by Kevin, who will aim for second place overall,” added Frédéric. “The others will also do their best. It’s always interesting to do it properly, especially since it will be their first race on the new Supersonica SLR time trial bike.” Before this final act, Kevin Geniets is in third place overall, fifty-seven seconds behind Vauquelin, but only six behind second place.
