Paris-Nice, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Giro and the Dauphiné at the end: for the last months of his career, Romain Bardet plans to compete “only in races” that he “loves” but with the ambition also to shine before hanging up your bike.
“I am very happy with my program. These are only races that I want to do, that I love,” explained the 34-year-old climber from Auvergne in an interview with AFP on Monday from his training location. in Calpe, in the south-east of Spain, where he has been preparing his seasons for more than ten years.
This year again, the rider of the Picnic team (ex-DSM), who announced before the last Tour de France that he was going to end his career in June at the Critérium du Dauphiné, will be away from his family for many weeks , a constraint that weighs on him more and more but which he knows is essential to remain efficient.
“I'm still going to spend more days in training than in competition, but if I want to finish at a very good physical level, I know it's going to happen. That's barely 30 days at home in six months, but that's it. “It's for the last time, so it will go easier,” he said.
After a start at the Tour de l'Algarve (February 19-23) and the Boucles Drôme-Ardèche, Bardet will continue with Paris-Nice in March, Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April where he finished second behind Tadej Pogacar in 2024, the Giro in May, and the Dauphiné, his “favorite race with the Tour of Lombardy”, in June.
In the Tour of Italy, he hopes to finally achieve this stage victory that he is missing to complete his collection on the Grand Tours.
“I want to do a good Giro because it is the genesis of what pushed me to continue. I managed to come second (in a stage) each of the three times I participated. I would like although it falls on the right side this time.”
“Playing the general I am no longer capable of it. Already on the last Tour de France, if I had played it 100%, I could have hoped to do between 8 and 12 at best”, he adds
In 2025, when the Tour de France passes “150/200 meters” from his house in Auvergne, he will no longer be on a bike but at the side of the road, “supporting” it with “full of friends” around a “great barbecue”.
Then it's time for vacation “with sport, friends, evenings and festivals”, then a return to training in August to prepare for the Gravel World Championships since he has decided to extend the adventure a little through this cycling discipline which “will also serve as a bit of a landing for him in emotional terms and especially in terms of endorphins”.
jk/goes
