Potters round and round in races with the French (7)

I believe the answer is:

tootles

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'potters' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their -s form, I don't understand how one could define the other.

'and round in races with the french' is the wordplay.
'and' becomes 'too'.
'round in races' becomes 't' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'the french' becomes 'les' (plural form of 'the' in French).
'too'+'t'+'les'='TOOTLES'

'round' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.