After his surprise retirement this Friday in the 13th stage of the Giro between San Remo and Cuneo, Romain Bardet says he is “really disappointed to leave the race like that” according to comments reported by his Dutch team DSM. “We have all worked very hard to get here and invested a lot to be in the best possible shape, rewinds the runner from Brioude (Haute-Loire). I had a lot of pain yesterday during the stage and it hasn’t improved. »
The winner of the Tour des Alpes last April assures him, “we have tried everything to continue”. “But today I had nothing left in me to spend the day, laments the Auvergnat. It’s really disappointing.” The team doctor, Dr Anko Boelens, explained further: “During yesterday’s (Thursday) stage, Romain started to feel bad with stomach aches. We tried to manage the situation during the race to get him through the day before he could rest in the evening but unfortunately we saw little improvement overnight. »
14 seconds behind the leader
“This morning we decided to give it a try and did everything we could to get him through the stage but, still with pain and such low energy, it was no longer possible for him to continue.” , estimated the doctor. Bardet, who considered himself “one of the three best” riders in this Giro, was fourth in the standings, 14 seconds behind the pink jersey (Juan Pedro Lopez) and 2 seconds behind the favourite, the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz.
Aged 31, the Frenchman, second in the 2016 Tour de France and third in 2017, was taking part in the Giro for the second time. He had taken 7th place in the final classification last year and had made this edition of the Tour of Italy his first major objective of the season.