In an interview which will be published Tuesday by Eurosport, future retiree Romain Bardet looks back on Tadej Pogacar's monumental season. With a feeling of helplessness and the intuition in each race that the Slovenian would eventually triumph.
We only saw him this year. Yes, 2024 is indeed the year of Tadej Pogacar. We will not list his 25 victories obtained this season but from the world champion title to the Giro-Tour de France double, “Pogi” disgusted the competition. “We have the feeling of not really being one of his opponents,” admits Romain Bardet bluntly, interviewed by Eurosport. Like many runners, the Frenchman from the DSM-Firmenich PostNL team never had the feeling of being able to compete with the Slovenian. He even admits to having never felt so helpless against an opponent.
“I was firmly convinced that it was resolved”
“There was still a certain vulnerability (among the favorites, editor's note). There, we knew, even on the Tour de France, that if we saw UAE agitate at the head of the peloton from the first kilometers to control the formation of the breakaway, he was going to win the stage. Same thing.
Winner of the first stage of the last Tour de France of his career before putting his bike away for good in 2025, Romain Bardet finished 2nd in Liège-Bastogne-Liège behind the insatiable Pogacar. But even when he was in the game, the Habs guessed the scenario. And knew that victory would elude him. “Just in my head,” he sighs. “The Strade Bianche, the Montreal Grand Prix and the road race of the world championships, I was firmly convinced that it was settled.”
France
Cycling
