Arnaud Démare : "a strong ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team at the start"

PresentationFeb 3, 2025

World Team TeamÉtoile de Bessèges - Tour du Gard

Arnaud Démare, for the sprints, and Kévin Vauquelin for the difficult stages, the time trial and the general classification, will be the two leaders of the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team on the roads of the Étoile de Bessèges 2025.

Arnaud Démare

Arnaud, will this year mark your return to the Étoile de Bessèges? Yes, it's been a long time since I took part in this great French stage race. What do you expect from this race? The level of competition at Bessèges is very, very high now, and there are no more early-season races like there used to be. This is practically a UCI WorldTour race from the very first stage race of the season, in France. So it's going to be a tough start. From a team point of view, does the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team look solid? Absolutely. We're going to have a big ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team for the Étoile de Bessèges. That will really motivate everyone. Kévin won the time trial in 2024, finishing second in the overall classification, and it didn't take much for it to go in his favour. We'll have plenty to do in the sprints, with quite a few riders in my train. So that's bound to give everyone a lot to look forward to.

Kévin Vauquelin

The course of the Étoile de Bessèges is similar to that of previous years, with the reintroduction of Mont Bouquet. So that gives me a bit more ambition for the general classification, with the time trial the following day. We'll also have Arnaud's card to play in the sprint. The aim will be to win one or more stages, why not?

Yvon Ledanois

Sports Director

The Étoile de Bessèges is the first stage race of the season on French soil. Last year, we came very close to success with Kévin Vauquelin. Our ambition, even if we respect all our rivals, will be to bring the leader's jersey back to the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS bus on the evening of the last stage. But to do that, we'll need to show commitment, concentration on the key strategic points of this race, which has no shortage of them, and solidarity. The riders in the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team have all of these qualities. The start of the season is often important in the course of a season, and our intention is to be there as soon as possible to let the red and black colours of the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS Excalibur jersey shine.

Our latest news

EMBRET SVESTAD-BÅRDSENG: ‘MY THIRD PARTICIPATION IN THIS EVENT’
PresentationFeb 4, 2025
World Team TeamTour of Oman
Maxime Bouet: "we raced to win"
Race reportFeb 2, 2025
World Team TeamGrand Prix Cycliste de Marseille - La Marseillaise
Amaury Capiot: “I'm going into this race with a bit of a thrill”
PresentationJan 31, 2025
World Team TeamGrand Prix Cycliste de Marseille - La Marseillaise
Raúl García Pierna 5th in Mallorca
Race reportJan 31, 2025
World Team TeamTrofeo Serra Tramuntana

All news