Romain Bardet has chosen to compete in the Tour of Italy which will take place from May 4 to 26. The French rider’s chances of doing well in the final ranking are real, according to some observers.
The time when Romain Bardet aimed to win the general classification of a grand tour may be over. However, the Frenchman has not said his last word. Now aged thirty-three, the rider of the dsm-firmenich PostNL, he sees things big for 2024. First major meeting for him: the Giro which will take place from May 4 to 26. The native of Brioude was named leader of his team, with hopes of a good overall ranking. If he has the legs and sufficient support from his teammates, Romain Bardet could well surprise his world again.
In any case, this is the hope of some cycling enthusiasts. Bertrand Latour, for example, expressed his hopes and delivered his verdict on the potential chances of the French climber. “ He appears to be an outsider, or even a little more so, to be on the podium. » This Tuesday, the channel’s journalist The Team therefore saw things with optimism, even if he felt that first place was simply unattainable: “ The Giro is very open. There is (Tadej) Pogacar and the others. And he is one of the first of all the others. »
A podium in the spotlight
To justify his prediction, the observer returned to Romain Bardet’s encouraging start to the season: “ He proved how efficient he was, on Liège-Bastogne-Liège (the Frenchman finished in second place, editor’s note), which is a one-day race, etc., but in any case it says something about his state of form. We could also see it on the Tour des Alpes the previous week. So I am very optimistic for Bardet who knows himself very well, who has a team that is quite solid. »
And Bertrand Latour concludes: “ Winning, unless Pogacar finishes in the embankment, it won’t happen and we don’t wish him, but for Bardet to finish on the podium, it’s entirely achievable. » The former AG2R-La Mondiale rider has participated in only two Tours of Italy in his career. If he abandoned in 2022 during the thirteenth stage, he finished seventh in the 2021 edition. It is up to him to do much better this year.
