Romain Bardet Discussion Thread

[hrotha]

Sometimes you don't know if you are because you didn't try.

At the very least, it's obvious that he talked the talk but didn't walk the walk. He said he had already been 2nd, that he had nothing to lose, that he would try to win the race and not settle for the podium, but that's not what we saw. Regardless of how strong he actually was.

 

[RedheadDane]

He did try, Froome caught him.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

Bardet was really exhausted at the finish line.

Armchair climbers wanted him to do more than his legs could do, but Froome showed he was unbreakable and his team simply stronger. No shame in that.

He threw his best chance in the bin when not having his teammates ride 110% when Froome had that rear flat.
50 seconds bonus, and he basically waited for Froome to catch back on.

 

[Forever The Best]

Re:

He did try, Froome caught him.

Attacked too late. Gave up too easily. So; no, he didn't give a proper try.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

I often wonder if some people that post here actually ride bikes up hills? You cannot go balls to the wall whenever the mood strikes you.

I often wonder if some people that post here have actually ever won a race, or just pootle along up hills? You have to go balls to the wall even if you're not in the mood to stand a chance of winning.

 

[hrotha]

Re:

He did try, Froome caught him.

No, he didn't. He attacked, but those attacks could never have won the Tour for him even if Froome had been dropped horribly. They came too late. There was no way he was going to get enough time on Froome in only 3 km (including a downhill section).

That's not trying, that's keeping up appearances.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Now you expected Bardet to be dumb enough to risk exploding ('cause, lack of good enough legs to drop the yellow jersey) just for the sake of your entertainment. Amazing.

 

[RedheadDane]

Maybe the situation just didn't work for attacking earlier. You can't just sit at home in your armchair and say he didn't try.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Now you expected Bardet to be dumb enough to risk exploding ('cause, lack of good enough legs to drop the yellow jersey) just for the sake of your entertainment. Amazing.

Isn't that what he said he would do? And then comprehensively didn't.

 

[hrotha]

Re:

Now you expected Bardet to be dumb enough to risk exploding ('cause, lack of good enough legs to drop the yellow jersey) just for the sake of your entertainment. Amazing.

Hey, he's the one who claimed he was going to do exactly that. He likes to play the rugged hero in the press, it's fair game to criticize him.

Maybe the situation just didn't work for attacking earlier. You can't just sit at home in your armchair and say he didn't try.

Whatever the reason, that he didn't try to win the race today is a fact.

 

[RedheadDane]

Sometimes you say things, and then - when in the situation - you can't.

Whatever the reason, that he didn't try to win the race today is a fact.

Are you Romain Bardet? No, you aren't. So you can't say it's a fact that he didn't try, coz you don't know.

 

[Forever The Best]

Indeed. Even if he had dropped Froome in the last 3 kms, his gains would have been minimal and he would have lost the lead in the TT even if he had taken the maillot jaune today. He didn't even try to win the race today.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re: Re:

Now you expected Bardet to be dumb enough to risk exploding ('cause, lack of good enough legs to drop the yellow jersey) just for the sake of your entertainment. Amazing.

Isn't that what he said he would do? And then comprehensively didn't.

He attacked. He tried to crack the yellow jersey on the climb but didn't succeed.

Now you're basically saying: "Uh no, he did not attack on the lower slopes of Vars. He didn't try to win. What a coward."
Being brave is not being dumb.

 

[Cookster15]

Re:

Sometimes you don't know if you are because you didn't try.

At the very least, it's obvious that he talked the talk but didn't walk the walk. He said he had already been 2nd, that he had nothing to lose, that he would try to win the race and not settle for the podium, but that's not what we saw. Regardless of how strong he actually was.

Of course Bardet tried. He just wasn't strong enough. Blaming not taking advantage of Froome's mechanical is just excuses. He is still likely to finish on the podium a great result for a pure climber these days. Some people have excessive expectations.

Regardless of how strong he actually was? We know how strong he was - not strong enough to drop Froome. If you don't have the legs to say that is not trying is ridiculous. Attacking is always measured against your rivals. If those riders are strong then your attack looks less impressive.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Now you expected Bardet to be dumb enough to risk exploding ('cause, lack of good enough legs to drop the yellow jersey) just for the sake of your entertainment. Amazing.

Isn't that what he said he would do? And then comprehensively didn't.

He attacked. He tried to crack the yellow jersey on the climb but didn't succeed.

Now you're basically saying: "Uh no, he did not attack on the lower slopes of Vars. He didn't try to win. What a coward."
Being brave is not being dumb.

I've never said that. I said he should have attacked once his last team mate pulled off about 7km from the top. That was when the pace had been lifted to it's highest and everyone was close to the limit; it was the opportunity to test Froome, with enough kms left to still potentially win the race, or even just to isolate him for a second attack a bit later. But instead he bottled it and slunked to the middle of the pack, letting Sky regain full control of the race.

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

Now you expected Bardet to be dumb enough to risk exploding ('cause, lack of good enough legs to drop the yellow jersey) just for the sake of your entertainment. Amazing.

Isn't that what he said he would do? And then comprehensively didn't.

He attacked. He tried to crack the yellow jersey on the climb but didn't succeed.

Now you're basically saying: "Uh no, he did not attack on the lower slopes of Vars. He didn't try to win. What a coward."
Being brave is not being dumb.

But Bardet wasn't exactly brave. And tactically he hasn't been the best. There was no point in making your team do Sky's job today, if then Bardet waited another 3km. So even without being brave, Bardet was dumb. Clearly he valued not risking a podium place above going all out for the yellow jersey, which is understandable, but Bardet spoke about doing grander things.

 

[staubsauger]

He let his whole team ride and when they were all gone nearly everybody of the Sky train was still there. What should he do? He ain't no Pantani! This situation occurred multiple times in the race. Bardet never had a real chance to win this Tour. Probably not even on stage 15, because of the flat finish . You simply can't attack over and over again to weaken up to 5 super-domestiques and eventually still manage to stay away. Too risky. The only one that actually could've won the Tour against Froome was Jakob Fuglsang. Because he could've risked to attack on the Peyresourde and expose Froome! Since he only was co-leader anyway. But then, the train would have needed to wait for cracking Froome. That would've been the potential winning move ain't nobody else could risk. Not even Porte or Valverde if they had been there.

 

[hrotha]

What you guys are effectively saying is that Bardet decided not to run any risks to pursue a possible Tour victory despite what he claimed before the stage. Glad we agree

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

Now you expected Bardet to be dumb enough to risk exploding ('cause, lack of good enough legs to drop the yellow jersey) just for the sake of your entertainment. Amazing.

Isn't that what he said he would do? And then comprehensively didn't.

He attacked. He tried to crack the yellow jersey on the climb but didn't succeed.

Now you're basically saying: "Uh no, he did not attack on the lower slopes of Vars. He didn't try to win. What a coward."
Being brave is not being dumb.

But Bardet wasn't exactly brave. And tactically he hasn't been the best. There was no point in making your team do Sky's job today, if then Bardet waited another 3km. So even without being brave, Bardet was dumb. Clearly he valued not risking a podium place above going all out for the yellow jersey, which is understandable, but Bardet spoke about doing grander things.

Maybe he was too brave, too confident. Thinking "I can totally do this!" then, when the situation arrived, he couldn't.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re: Re:

Now you expected Bardet to be dumb enough to risk exploding ('cause, lack of good enough legs to drop the yellow jersey) just for the sake of your entertainment. Amazing.

Isn't that what he said he would do? And then comprehensively didn't.

He attacked. He tried to crack the yellow jersey on the climb but didn't succeed.

Now you're basically saying: "Uh no, he did not attack on the lower slopes of Vars. He didn't try to win. What a coward."
Being brave is not being dumb.

I've never said that. I said he should have attacked once his last team mate pulled off about 7km from the top. That was when the pace had been lifted to it's highest and everyone was close to the limit; it was the opportunity to test Froome, with enough kms left to still potentially win the race, or even just to isolate him for a second attack a bit later. But instead he bottled it and slunked to the middle of the pack, letting Sky regain full control of the race.

You literally said he was a coward on the race thread.

Do you really think Bardet would have got away with four Sky riders chasing him as hard as they could? Because I don't.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Now you expected Bardet to be dumb enough to risk exploding ('cause, lack of good enough legs to drop the yellow jersey) just for the sake of your entertainment. Amazing.

Isn't that what he said he would do? And then comprehensively didn't.

He attacked. He tried to crack the yellow jersey on the climb but didn't succeed.

Now you're basically saying: "Uh no, he did not attack on the lower slopes of Vars. He didn't try to win. What a coward."
Being brave is not being dumb.

I've never said that. I said he should have attacked once his last team mate pulled off about 7km from the top. That was when the pace had been lifted to it's highest and everyone was close to the limit; it was the opportunity to test Froome, with enough kms left to still potentially win the race, or even just to isolate him for a second attack a bit later. But instead he bottled it and slunked to the middle of the pack, letting Sky regain full control of the race.

You literally said he was a coward on the race thread.

Do you really think Bardet would have got away with four Sky riders chasing him as hard as they could? Because I don't.

I don't know if he could have, no-one knows, because he didn't try. But of course there was a posibility; you never know how other riders are feeling until you put them under sustained pressure. Nieve was clearly on the limit and Kwiatkowski didn't put on a blistering pace at the front, so at least there was a chance of Froome being isolated ahead of a second attack. What is obvious is that one weak attack close the summit was never going to be anywhere near enough to take over a minute out of Froome.

He talked the talk before hand, got his team to set up the potential attack, but then cowed when it was decision time and settled for a podium position. A disappointing outcome.

 

[miguelindurain111]

He knows exactly how hard and how long he can go. He has the experience. He has the powermeter.

Oh wait, actually you just need to trust yourself and remember to say shut up legs to be capable of dropping your rivals :lol:

 

[jmdirt]

Great TdF for RB! The TT should be interesting...

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

He knows exactly how hard and how long he can go. He has the experience. He has the powermeter.

Oh wait, actually you just need to trust yourself and remember to say shut up legs to be capable of dropping your rivals :lol:

Did he also check Froome's power meter?
lololol, hihi, haha

 

[toolittle]

Re: Re:

Pozzovivo did a good show for the team in giro.

TDF is another story. AG2R won't be happy with TDF version of pozzovivo.

I can't imagine RB in top3 GC this year.

AG2R team is quite good this year. With RB, Latour, and Frank Matthias team classicification is quite possible.

Latour has a real chance for white jersey.

If RB targets potka and combative, the chance is sky high.
Then, RB could still attack and do his Ninja way.

I believe French communities will be happy with potka + white + team + combative + nice stage(s) win + 3 person in top 12.

It isx if use all the horsepower to get a GC 5th and nothing else.

The truth is that old generation of gc will be past in 2 years time.
In New generation, none super strong all round riders.
All of up and coming guys on the table are climb strong with ok TT only. RB has real chance for yellow 2 years later but not now.

Warren bugril choose an easy way for success. A potka plus 2 stages. With Matthew in green, a huge success for the team.

Bardet and ag2r selected a challenging way. A nice podium and a stage. Not bad but could be better