Tour de France – 16th stage – Romain Bardet K.-O. : “In Péguère, I was sorry to drive at 5 km / h”

From Port de Lers, the first of the nine passes to be climbed in the Pyrenees between Tuesday and Thursday, the leader of Team DSM gave way. At the foot of the Mur de Péguère, he had rejoined the group of favorites, but in this second ascent, there was no miracle. Dropped from the first ramps, Bardet lived “a trial“.”In Peguerehe says, I was pitiful to see, to go up to 5 km/h. That’s how it was, I tried not to let go but I couldn’t keep a constant high rhythm.”

Fortunately for him, in his misfortune, he was able to count on the support of three of his teammates in the final, Andreas Leknessund, Chris Hamilton and Nils Eeeckhof. Bardet returned more than three and a half minutes to Vingegaard, Pogacar, Thomas, Quintana or even Gaudu in Foix, but without this support, the disbursement would have been much greater. Or worse : “I take my hat off to all my teammates who were there at the start, then at the end to Niels, Andreas and Chris. Without them, I think I didn’t finish the stage.”

The most terrible thing in all of this is that the native of Brioude has “saw nothing coming“. The bamboo kick fell on him without warning.”I felt fresh, fine, this morning, but as soon as there were the first accelerations I completely lost my footing, completely off the mark, he observes, a little dazed. It’s not something I’m used to, so it’s hard to take. But I really didn’t feel well.”

The heat ? Tiredness ? The causes escape him. On the other hand, he felt the consequences pass. “I don’t know why… It wasn’t even the legs, I was completely lost, continues the French climber. I had nothing, I was super feverish, unable to accelerate. I was glued, completely cooked. I had headaches. My head was pounding, my temples were pounding. I had chills. I was completely stuck completely cooked.”

Hot, Romain Bardet had a little trouble planning for the future. Digest first. Think, then. “I will already try to rest, he said. I had a fairly stable level since the start of the Tour and then everything collapsed. I took a big hit, I’m going to have to remobilize quickly. 15 days that it was not too bad, so I hope it’s just one day and I’ll be able to bounce back. I hope. ” But difficult to be optimistic after such a nightmarish day even if, on Wednesday, the Tour arrives at the Peyragudes altiport, where he had perhaps signed the greatest victory of his career five years ago.