Romain Bardet will not succeed Laurent Fignon, the last French winner of the Tour of Italy in 1989. Sick, the Auvergnat abandoned the Giro, Friday May 20, in the 13th stage leading to Cuneo, announced the organization of the race . The Frenchman from the DSM team was in fourth place in the general classification, 14 seconds behind the pink jersey, the Spaniard Juan Pedro Lopez.
On social media, his training clarified that the runner “became ill in the night” and was no longer in a condition to continue the race. This surprise retirement comes as the 2nd in the 2016 Tour de France was in great shape. His name even came up insistently to challenge the final victory to the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz.
During the formidable climb of the Blockhaus on Sunday May 15, the 31-year-old climber made a strong impression, despite his 2nd place for a gut behind the Australian Jai Hindley. “So far it’s going well. I experienced a lot of things on the big tours, great joys, disappointments, I now take things as they come, without taking my head, “said the runner from Brioude (Haute-Loire), Monday, at the the day after this stopover at the Blockhaus.
Before leaving the Giro, and even more with the fourth place he occupied, Romain Bardet was one of the outsiders for the final victory. But he hadn’t wanted to go that far: “I feel good, everything is going well, it’s a very good start but we’re not halfway through the Giro yet!” “, he relativized Monday.
This season, Bardet had planned to “overtake” Giro and Tour de France, but made no secret of targeting the Italian event to achieve the best possible general classification. On the French side, Guillaume Martin remains in ambush in 5th place now (28 seconds behind Lopez). Regular if not winning a lot, the Norman from the Cofidis team has not given up a race since… February 11, 2018.