Romain, what is your assessment of this day?
“Not great, I was off track all day. I think the legs were good but… There are big regrets because the podium was really playable. »
What are your regrets based on?
“Tactically, I was not up to par today. With the legs I had, there was a way to do much better. Maybe I didn’t believe in myself enough from the start to toughen up. As the laps went by it got better. At 60 km I came back from nowhere because I was more than two minutes from the lead. After the screw, it split in two on the technical part of the course and I wasn’t vigilant enough. David (Gaudu) found himself all alone in front. I made a lot of effort to get back to the front at that point. And when I see that only 200 meters are missing at the top of the ravito hill to switch and play for the podium, it’s obviously frustrating. »
How did you experience the very early abandonment of Julian Alaphilippe?
“It was a difficult moment. Already, because I saw him fall. We stopped with Valentin (Madouas). It reminded us of ghosts, but he immediately told us that it wasn’t very serious, but that it was the shoulder and that it was over. We took a blow to the head. We still re-mobilized, I think there was a very good French team today. »
What did you think when Tadej Pogacar attacked 100 km from the finish?
“I didn’t really realize it at first. Afterwards, I quickly saw that he was short of manpower. We had a feeling about it before the race from so far away. Afterwards, to hold on, only he is capable of it. »
Finishing tenth in these last Worlds, aren’t you still satisfied?
“For the French team, for everything, I would have liked… It’s not as if physically the podium was out of reach today. By playing tactically well, there was better to do. »
