Mathieu Warnier, Media365: published on Sunday September 29, 2024 at 6:55 p.m.
While he was participating in the Worlds for the last time, Romain Bardet regretted a lack of tactical vision even though he had the legs to achieve a good result. Pavel Sivakov, for his part, assured that he had burned too much energy hanging on to Tadej Pogacar’s wheel.
The objective was ambitious, but the achievement was not there. While Thomas Voeckler and his runners came to Zürich to get a good result, the Blues had to be content with Romain Bardet’s tenth place in a race dynamited by Tadej Pogacar 100 kilometers from the finish. “We had a feeling about it before the race,” said the native of Brioude in comments collected by the site DirectVelo about the Slovenian’s fantastic ride. But to hold on, only he is capable of it. » While competing at the Worlds for the last time in his career, Romain Bardet admitted to being trapped by the racing movements that resulted from Tadej Pogacar’s acceleration. “I wasn’t vigilant enough so David Gaudu found himself all alone at the front in a group,” he recalled. I was behind with groups returning. I made a lot of effort at that time to come back. »
Bardet: “Way to do much better”
Affirming that “it was a big day of cycling, a challenge as we expected”, the rider from the DSM Firmenich-PostNL team came away with a bitter taste linked to a finale that he was unable to decode. “When I see that I’m 200 meters short of the aid station to reach the podium… It’s obviously frustrating,” he concluded. Tactically I was not up to par, because with these legs there was a way to do much better. It’s not like the podium is out of reach. » The rider of the French team who was the most visible this Sunday in Zurich will remain Pavel Sivakov. Teammate of Tadej Pogacar within the UAE Team Emirates, the Tricolore was the only one able to take the wheel of the Slovenian when the latter placed a new acceleration 77 kilometers from the goal. Which gave him some hope of a good result but it backfired. “When he attacked on the bump, I gave everything,” Pavel Sivakov told DirectVelo. I tried to follow him but I clearly burned my wings. His level is incredible. »
Sivakov: “It was a steamroller”
Having wanted to keep the Frenchman at his side as long as possible, the future world champion did not hesitate to slow down. “He wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t his teammate at UAE Team Emirates,” said the Frenchman on this subject. The performance of the man he has been working with on a daily basis for almost a year has managed to surprise him. “I’ve never seen that, it was a steamroller,” says Pavel Sivakov. Whether downhill or on the flat, I never recovered. He said to me, ‘Come on, let’s ride together. Behind them they will perhaps look at each other. But it’s so easy for him. I was totally into the wheel. » A duo who separated at the start of the last 50 kilometers, when Tadej Pogacar “just dropped off” the Frenchman who claims to have “no regrets” after having done his best. “I still had fun, it was great to represent France up front,” he concluded.
