• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Romain Bardet Discussion Thread

Page 9 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
He's the main favorite on paper imho. Nibali is one year older and one year longer far away from 2014. Aru is very vulnerable and Bardet's exactly the kind of racer that got the instinct to caught him out. Kruijswijk's weaker on paper and ain't likely to fully repeat this year's peak. That leaves Bardet as the strongest contender on paper!
 
The idea that Bardet targets the 2017 Giro was already brought on in spring though which Lavenu more or less confirmed during a phone call with BeIn.

Apparently his second place at the Tour and the way he archived it cemented their believe that he's ready to win the Giro next year. Actually AG2R's activities on the transfer market already looked like they shape themselves up to serve for a potential gt winner (Giro) not podium contender (Tour).
 
Fantastic that young developing French GC riders want to develop their craft in the Giro or the Vuelta - The next step for young French GC riders is not to blindly join French teams - Let them develop with other teams and join French teams when they are on top of their game.
 
Okay, so riders who right now are going to ride the Giro:

Nibali
Kruijswijk
Landa
Aru
Chaves
Pinot
Bardet

Potentially Contador and Valverde as well. It might be easier to win TdF and hope Quintana and Froome crashes out - it will most likely be an insane lineup for that race.
 
No certainty Chavez will ride the Giro - Though at least one of the Yates brothers will be riding the Giro - Reckon Aru will ride the TDF again and Lopez will do the giro - Reckon only one of the French boys will ride the Giro - And I suggest Valverde is a near certainty.
 
Re:

yaco said:
No certainty Chavez will ride the Giro - Though at least one of the Yates brothers will be riding the Giro - Reckon Aru will ride the TDF again and Lopez will do the giro - Reckon only one of the French boys will ride the Giro - And I suggest Valverde is a near certainty.
Just read that Chaves was in no rush yet - said it depended on the route. Chances are, tho, that TdF would want to keep ITT miles at a minimum to give Quintana more of a chance, as said as that is, while the Giro probably would want a long ITT at least since Nibali is riding and many of his main competitors on paper are weaker than him. Who knows.

Chances are, as you said, that only one of the French GC-hopefuls will ride the Giro. I hope for Bardet - way more consistent than Tipo.

Valverde? Yes, he is likely to do the Giro, but it clashes with Ardennes somewhat and he also wants to ride Flanders at some point, me thinks.

Aru should come back to the Giro. No point being at the Tour.
 
Re:

Valv.Piti said:
Okay, so riders who right now are going to ride the Giro:

Nibali
Kruijswijk
Landa
Aru
Chaves
Pinot
Bardet

Potentially Contador and Valverde as well. It might be easier to win TdF and hope Quintana and Froome crashes out - it will most likely be an insane lineup for that race.
The best thing is that, unlike the tour, all of those riders are capable of winning it.
 
Re: Re:

Valv.Piti said:
yaco said:
No certainty Chavez will ride the Giro - Though at least one of the Yates brothers will be riding the Giro - Reckon Aru will ride the TDF again and Lopez will do the giro - Reckon only one of the French boys will ride the Giro - And I suggest Valverde is a near certainty.
Just read that Chaves was in no rush yet - said it depended on the route. Chances are, tho, that TdF would want to keep ITT miles at a minimum to give Quintana more of a chance, as said as that is, while the Giro probably would want a long ITT at least since Nibali is riding and many of his main competitors on paper are weaker than him. Who knows.

Chances are, as you said, that only one of the French GC-hopefuls will ride the Giro. I hope for Bardet - way more consistent than Tipo.

Valverde? Yes, he is likely to do the Giro, but it clashes with Ardennes somewhat and he also wants to ride Flanders at some point, me thinks.

Aru should come back to the Giro. No point being at the Tour.

Aru was OK at the TDF except for his hunger flat on the penultimate stage - Who else from Astana can ride for GC ?
 
Re: Re:

yaco said:
Valv.Piti said:
yaco said:
No certainty Chavez will ride the Giro - Though at least one of the Yates brothers will be riding the Giro - Reckon Aru will ride the TDF again and Lopez will do the giro - Reckon only one of the French boys will ride the Giro - And I suggest Valverde is a near certainty.
Just read that Chaves was in no rush yet - said it depended on the route. Chances are, tho, that TdF would want to keep ITT miles at a minimum to give Quintana more of a chance, as said as that is, while the Giro probably would want a long ITT at least since Nibali is riding and many of his main competitors on paper are weaker than him. Who knows.

Chances are, as you said, that only one of the French GC-hopefuls will ride the Giro. I hope for Bardet - way more consistent than Tipo.

Valverde? Yes, he is likely to do the Giro, but it clashes with Ardennes somewhat and he also wants to ride Flanders at some point, me thinks.

Aru should come back to the Giro. No point being at the Tour.

Aru was OK at the TDF except for his hunger flat on the penultimate stage - Who else from Astana can ride for GC ?
Lopez
 
Re:

Valv.Piti said:
Okay, so riders who right now are going to ride the Giro:

Nibali
Kruijswijk
Landa
Aru
Chaves
Pinot
Bardet

Potentially Contador and Valverde as well. It might be easier to win TdF and hope Quintana and Froome crashes out - it will most likely be an insane lineup for that race.
Pinot? Not sure yet. But looking at your list, if that is the lineup, I can't wait. It will be epic.
 
i will believe it when I see it. Faithful long term French sponsors not seeing their best riders in the Tour or backing up after the Giro and doing anonomous rides after finishing second the year before ? If they won the Giro then that might count but it won't be any easier than winning the Tour even without Froome and Quintana. More riders will fancy their chances in the Giro, the racing and the course will be different to a typical Tour and you still have to perform over three weeks. if a rider like Contador cannot make a Tour podium in six years it just shows that everything still has to go right or mostly right for the entire race. Good to see SK heading back to the Giro.
 
Re:

Alexandre B. said:
As I feared, Bergamo Alta is not his type of climb.

Nonetheless, a very brave ride and a well-deserved top 10 in the WT rankings. World class rider.
Was a superb ride by him today. I think it's very, very difficut to do well in Lombardia having raced hard for GC in the Tour. It's too long to hold a peak and not quite long enough to rest up and reach a second peak in time. So was great to even see him in contention.

Hopefully next year he will forget the Tour and go for the Ardennes/Giro and then Italian classics double peak.
 
Aug 16, 2013
7,619
2
0
Visit site
Despite the fact he was really strong, i don't think he can win a big classic. I feel a little bit the same with Pinot. A little bit too much climber for Lombardia, and for sure for Liege/Fleche and Clasica.

Guys like Chaves, Valverde or Martin are also good climbers, but they have also big explosivity and a good sprint. For Bardet: he needs a really hard race. And even then, he always will face a faster/more explosive rider in the final to beat.

But we need guys like Bardet and Pinot to wear out the typical classics riders and make a harder race in general.
 
Re:

Arredondo said:
Despite the fact he was really strong, i don't think he can win a big classic. I feel a little bit the same with Pinot. A little bit too much climber for Lombardia, and for sure for Liege/Fleche and Clasica.

Guys like Chaves, Valverde or Martin are also good climbers, but they have also big explosivity and a good sprint. For Bardet: he needs a really hard race. And even then, he always will face a faster/more explosive rider in the final to beat.

But we need guys like Bardet and Pinot to wear out the typical classics riders and make a harder race in general.
I think the finish in Como (with last year route) suits him more. He has the guts and intelligence to snatch a Monument, I'm sure of it.
 
Re: Re:

Alexandre B. said:
Arredondo said:
Despite the fact he was really strong, i don't think he can win a big classic. I feel a little bit the same with Pinot. A little bit too much climber for Lombardia, and for sure for Liege/Fleche and Clasica.

Guys like Chaves, Valverde or Martin are also good climbers, but they have also big explosivity and a good sprint. For Bardet: he needs a really hard race. And even then, he always will face a faster/more explosive rider in the final to beat.

But we need guys like Bardet and Pinot to wear out the typical classics riders and make a harder race in general.
I think the finish in Como (with last year route) suits him more. He has the guts and intelligence to snatch a Monument, I'm sure of it.
Agree, I think he could take a very hard edition of Lombardia - with a big climb closer to the finish. Or perhaps even a Liege if it is very wet and all breaks up early - where technique becomes important.
 
4 years ago everyone including himself thought of Bardet as a potential classics winner. Now he's a hot favorite to win the 2017 Giro if he participates.That's certainly the correct career development. Yet, he still got the skills to win one of the Italian fall classics once. The Ardennes ain't his cup of tea. Nothing wrong about that imho!
 
Re:

Alexandre B. said:
As I feared, Bergamo Alta is not his type of climb.

Nonetheless, a very brave ride and a well-deserved top 10 in the WT rankings. World class rider.
I don't necessarily think it suited him less than the other riders, I simply think he was the worst of the 4 riders. Urán was really strong, breaching a gap like that, Chaves was incredible on the climbs and Rosa... they were monsters today. Bardet was really good, but just lacked that bit.
 

TRENDING THREADS