Romain Bardet Discussion Thread

[Chrispol]

Like he said in the Dauphiné, it will give him opportunities.

Pozzovivo seems to be fully commited in helping Bardet, he was with him today even if we don't know if the frenchman will explode and lose an bunch of time later.

Bad luck for AG2R these last two day, and it could be worse if Bardet and Pozzo slip definitely out of contention for the GC. Hope that the French machine Gougeard can take a win.

 

[axl]

I think saterday and sunday will be the tests to decide what to do in the 2nd and 3rd week. It would be foolish to continue to target the GC. Today was a bad sign, and anyway the 3rd week will be kind of an unknown zone for him because it's the first time he does 2 GC in a year, back-to-back furthermore. In short, he has few chances to be able to play the GC during 3 weeks, it will be better to target stages at soon as possible.

 

[HelloDolly]

Lose time Bardet and then go stage hunting and Kom (and also Pozzo) ....its too much to ask him to produce the form of the Tour in his 1st ever 2nd GT in a year and after such a hard Tour

He is no where near Froome, Chaves & Contador ...and he wil not be there with Nibali either later

 

[Blanco]

I knew he will fade. Back to back GT's are too much for him atm.

 

[MatParker117]

Re:

I knew he will fade. Back to back GT's are too much for him atm.

Yup.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Goddamn Orica.

Now I'll pray for the peloton not messing with the break. He has the level to win a stage.

 

[Tonton]

That was not the best final for him to try, some flat mid-climb, and in the end but time is running out. Brave effort. At 100%, Romain could still have pulled it. He found the strength not to get dropped and lose five minutes, it's good sign. But he's only going to get weaker. He won't win off the GC group,. Having said that, off the breakaway, there's a chance.

 

[staubsauger]

I guess there's quite a big chance on Sunday. Because normally the favorites tend to let a breakaway go on Sierra Nevada. Especially with La Pandera the day before.

 

[Alexandre B.]

So Romain went to the Vuelta in order to "discover" what back-to-back GTs are.

He'll finish with a 17th on GC, a quick fade in the middle of the first week, some good breakaway attempts and no stage win.

His GC record is still rather impressive:

Tour 2013 -> 15th
Tour 2014 -> 6th
Tour 2015 -> 9th + a stage win
Tour 2016 -> 2nd + a stage win
Tour 2017 -> 3rd + a stage win
Vuelta 2017 -> 17th

 

[staubsauger]

That 2015 Tour result certainly could've been better without the heat stroke.

 

[movingtarget]

I think he should have dodged the Vuelta or pulled out early. He looked very tired at the end of the Tour.

 

[Alexandre B.]

I don't know about his form, but I think it was a necessary step in his career to race two Grands Tours in the same season. Said targeting one GC per year satisfies him now.

By the way, his season has ended, no Italian classics this year.

 

[Chrispol]

Agree, it was a good opportunity for him and he took his chance a lot of time. I liked him in this aggressive mode.

He was strong and was pretty close to win a stage multiples times. I think this was necessary to his maturation. Look at Valverde this year, 3 GT in 2016 and never looked that strong in the spring. By the way he said on French Eurosport that he sometimes pulled more watts than in the Tour.

Better stop the season now if he feels tired. No point overdo it right now and mess his preparation for next year.

And he'll have more time to work on his TT.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re:

Agree, it was a good opportunity for him and he took his chance a lot of time. I liked him in this aggressive mode.

He was strong and was pretty close to win a stage multiples times. I think this was necessary to his maturation. Look at Valverde this year, 3 GT in 2016 and never looked that strong in the spring. By the way he said on French Eurosport that he sometimes pulled more watts than in the Tour.

Better stop the season now if he feels tired. No point overdo it right now and mess his preparation for next year.

And he'll have more time to work on his TT.

If rumors about the Tour 2018 are to be believed, he better work very hard.

 

[Chrispol]

Re: Re:

Agree, it was a good opportunity for him and he took his chance a lot of time. I liked him in this aggressive mode.

He was strong and was pretty close to win a stage multiples times. I think this was necessary to his maturation. Look at Valverde this year, 3 GT in 2016 and never looked that strong in the spring. By the way he said on French Eurosport that he sometimes pulled more watts than in the Tour.

Better stop the season now if he feels tired. No point overdo it right now and mess his preparation for next year.

And he'll have more time to work on his TT.

If rumors about the Tour 2018 are to be believed, he better work very hard.

Not that much ITT i heard, only one Individual. But a 35 km TTT, he's not the only one who will have to work.

 

[staubsauger]

Re: Re:

Agree, it was a good opportunity for him and he took his chance a lot of time. I liked him in this aggressive mode.

He was strong and was pretty close to win a stage multiples times. I think this was necessary to his maturation. Look at Valverde this year, 3 GT in 2016 and never looked that strong in the spring. By the way he said on French Eurosport that he sometimes pulled more watts than in the Tour.

Better stop the season now if he feels tired. No point overdo it right now and mess his preparation for next year.

And he'll have more time to work on his TT.

If rumors about the Tour 2018 are to be believed, he better work very hard.

Not that much ITT i heard, only one Individual. But a 35 km TTT, he's not the only one who will have to work.

Giro 2018 is on the table.

 

[Red Rick]

The Giro has even more ITTs than the Tour. But Italy should suit him.

 

[Alexandre B.]

According to this article (fr), the bulk of his 2018 season should look like this: http://www.lemonde.fr/cyclisme/article/2017/11/15/cyclisme-pour-romain-bardet-le-tour-2018-passera-par-l-italie_5214960_1616656.html?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#link_time=1510727306

Ruta del Sol/Tour d'Oman
Strade Bianche
Paris-Nice/Tirreno-Adriatico
Vuelta a Pais Vasco
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Critérium du Dauphiné
Tour de France
World Championships

 

[Chrispol]

Re:

According to this article (fr), the bulk of his 2018 season should look like this: http://www.lemonde.fr/cyclisme/article/2017/11/15/cyclisme-pour-romain-bardet-le-tour-2018-passera-par-l-italie_5214960_1616656.html?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#link_time=1510727306

Ruta del Sol/Tour d'Oman
Strade Bianche
Paris-Nice/Tirreno-Adriatico
Vuelta a Pais Vasco
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Critérium du Dauphiné
Tour de France
World Championships

Nice program. Classic, but I like the introduction of Strade Bianche. I hope for you that he'll be at least 9th.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re:

According to this article (fr), the bulk of his 2018 season should look like this: http://www.lemonde.fr/cyclisme/article/2017/11/15/cyclisme-pour-romain-bardet-le-tour-2018-passera-par-l-italie_5214960_1616656.html?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#link_time=1510727306

Ruta del Sol/Tour d'Oman
Strade Bianche
Paris-Nice/Tirreno-Adriatico
Vuelta a Pais Vasco
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Critérium du Dauphiné
Tour de France
World Championships

It will be Ruta del Sol and Tirreno-Adriatico, then.

 

[armchairclimber]

It will be interesting to see if his approach changes if Froome gets an enforced holiday.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

It will be interesting to see if his approach changes if Froome gets an enforced holiday.

He's already throwing all GT eggs in the TdF basket.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

It will be interesting to see if his approach changes if Froome gets an enforced holiday.

He's already throwing all GT eggs in the TdF basket.

Indeed, its a relatively light programme. He has good chances, but if Froome isn't there, there's the 3-headed monster to deal with and lets not forget Dumounlin and the voodoo master himself, Cenzoooo

 

[Alexandre B.]

Yesterday during stage 9 recon

Romain starts his season tomorrow at GP La Marseillaise.

 

[Tonton]

Getting ready, I see . He'll be a tough customer comes July. In l'Equipe's article, this recon is said to be the first, and one will be scheduled on dryer cobbles, which is more likely to mimic summer conditions. Romain is smart about his preparation.