Romain Bardet Discussion Thread

[Tim Booth]

Re: 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.

probably will not start Ruta del Sol following an accident at his home on Sunday. He suffered a cut, and a small muscle injury on his left forearm that required stitches, and for which he must wear a splint for two weeks,

 

[Tonton]

Alexandre must be enjoying one of the many French vacations, I suppose .

Not a big race in France (Ardeche), but still: a decent field and a big escape. Romain is looking good.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Romain is going to win Strade Bianche, that's obvious

 

[armchairclimber]

He looked good in both races this weekend for sure.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Romain is going to win Strade Bianche, that's obvious

His form is really good, he has the pop to make a move in the final kilometer...Can he finish better than 9th ? I give him a 50-50 chance.

 

[Velolover2]

It's funny I actually think he WILL finish 9th just like Pinot.

Obviously he wouldn't beat Kwiatkowski but a top 10 is possible. If Andy Schleck can do it, so can Bardet.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

It's funny I actually think he WILL finish 9th just like Pinot.

Obviously he wouldn't beat Kwiatkowski but a top 10 is possible. If Andy Schleck can do it, so can Bardet.

For a first time, a top-10 is great. It will depend on how the race unfolds...but Romain has a shot. If it's a small group affair, he has a kick, probably won't win, but get a great result, another nice feather on his hat.

 

[Koronin]

To win he'd have to come to the finish alone. He can't sprint with the guys who are most likely going to be in that final selection. Kwaitkowski, Stybar, Sagan, Valverde (as long as the travel didn't exhaust him), Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Sagan.

 

[Tonton]

Re:

To win he'd have to come to the finish alone. He can't sprint with the guys who are most likely going to be in that final selection. Kwaitkowski, Stybar, Sagan, Valverde (as long as the travel didn't exhaust him), Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Sagan.

Romain Bardet can't ITT. can't sprint, nothing new here. But the finish is tricky and he's explosive. If Sagan is in the mix, Bardet can take advantage of the wheel sucking and the fear f Sagan. That is if he can make it that far. We'll see. Bardet isn't a favorite, but he can and hopefully be in the mix.

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

To win he'd have to come to the finish alone. He can't sprint with the guys who are most likely going to be in that final selection. Kwaitkowski, Stybar, Sagan, Valverde (as long as the travel didn't exhaust him), Gilbert, Van Avermaet, Sagan.

Romain Bardet can't ITT. can't sprint, nothing new here. But the finish is tricky and he's explosive. If Sagan is in the mix, Bardet can take advantage of the wheel sucking and the fear f Sagan. That is if he can make it that far. We'll see. Bardet isn't a favorite, but he can and hopefully be in the mix.

True and his descending skills don't help him here. I agree if he's in the final selection that will be a victory in a way for him.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re:

Romain is going to win Strade Bianche, that's obvious

I was joking, of course, but he almost made it.

I'm proud of what he did. 1st or 2nd doesn't matter, what I saw today was perhaps his best display ever. I will fondly remember the sequence where he bridged to the world class front group by himself and attacked immediately to create a decisive gap for the podium. He made the race, showed he was strong physically and tactically astute.

A real racer.

I hope this will help him be less afraid to attack in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, his favorite race. It's what he has to do if he wants to drop stronger finishers like Valverde and Alaphilippe. He can do it.

He can definitely win a stage in the upcoming Tirreno.

 

[Krokro]

Amazing display of strength, bravery and skill from Bardet. I'm really amazed. I did not expect him at that level. A true attacker, a true racer.
Deserving champion!

 

[toolittle]

Re: Re:

Romain is going to win Strade Bianche, that's obvious

I was joking, of course, but he almost made it.

I'm proud of what he did. 1st or 2nd doesn't matter, what I saw today was perhaps his best display ever. I will fondly remember the sequence where he bridged to the world class front group by himself and attacked immediately to create a decisive gap for the podium. He made the race, showed he was strong physically and tactically astute.

A real racer.

I hope this will help him be less afraid to attack in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, his favorite race. It's what he has to do if he wants to drop stronger finishers like Valverde and Alaphilippe. He can do it.

He can definitely win a stage in the upcoming Tirreno.

His style, his attitude makes him outperform in epic condition.
May be he is not strong in term of physical. But his mind helped.

 

[DFA123]

Bardet is such a great rider. I fear he may end up though as one of those unlucky guys who just don't have a big race suited to his strengths, because he doesn't have the one weapon needed to distance the field and stay away in a classic, and will always struggle with TTing in GTs. If he could work on improving his rouleur skills just a bit though then he could become dominant in the post Nibali-Valverde era. He's such a fine all round athlete, and very stylish on the bike.

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

Romain is going to win Strade Bianche, that's obvious

Can he finish better than 9th ? I give him a 50-50 chance.

Of course. He must always stay a step ahead of Pinot. Anyway, great race from him. Always fun to watch him in one day races.

 

[Brullnux]

Now, if only he could race like this in a tight gc battle...

But, seriously, great performance. Should do really well in the ardennes too

 

[Koronin]

I did say to get on the podium he had to get away from the group who could out sprint him. Now at the Ardennes he will have to deal with an actually fully rested Valverde who didn't just have a major travel debacle and try to race on not a lot of rest or sleep.

 

[Tonton]

Awesome performance! Hats off Romain!

 

[Jspear]

Re:

I did say to get on the podium he had to get away from the group who could out sprint him. Now at the Ardennes he will have to deal with an actually fully rested Valverde who didn't just have a major travel debacle and try to race on not a lot of rest or sleep.

Oh my, enough about the flight and driving debacle...I'm reading about it on every thread.
He easily could have still placed 4th with 10 hours of sleeping.


I'm also glad to see Bardet performing well. He's got a great fighting spirit and it's making me more of a fan. In Liege he can definitely be an equal favorite with the other big names.

 

[portugal11]

clearly the best french racer since jalabert. hats off for him. he just need to improve his horrible time trial

 

[can3478]

Awesome performance! Hats off Romain!

+1, great start to the season.

 

[armchairclimber]

I love that man. Such a gutsy racer. Brilliant effort today .... and great work between him and WVA.

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Really great race today. Anything with a lot of climbs and he has a shot IMO.

 

[rote_laterne]

I like the attacking Bardet of this season. 4 races so far, one win, one podium and two more top tens.

 

[toolittle]

Re:

Tour of Flanders may be good for him also.
He could drop big classics riders on steepest hill and left Naesen to match big guns.