Thomas Voeckler had some very strong words for Romain Bardet, the first yellow jersey of this 2024 Tour de France.
The Tour de France for French riders has already been a success. With two victories in three stages and a day in yellow, the Tricolores struck hard from the start. Romain Bardet launched the dynamic by winning the 1time stage on Saturday and taking the yellow jersey for the first time in his career. Kevin Vauquelin followed suit by winning the 2e solo stage.
The day after his victory, Romain Bardet confided that this day in yellow was “the crowning achievement of his career”. An opinion shared by Thomas Voekler, who praised the leader of Team dsm-firmenich PostNL, who is competing in his last Tour de France.
Voeckler: “Romain is a good guy, with values”
“If Romain had finished his professional career without wearing the yellow jersey, it wouldn’t have been a failure. Romain is a good guy, with values and a good mindset. I saw him arrive in the peloton, he knew how to evolve. In the end, he manages to wear the yellow jersey by a different path from the one he took when he climbed onto the podium of the Grande Boucle (2nd in 2016 and 3rd in 2017). It was his destiny…”indicated the consultant for France Télévisions.
Thomas Voeckler then discussed the rest of the race for the French riders. “When you’re French, there’s always the pressure of the first victory, he stressed. There, she is removed. In addition, there are already two! (…) If we already get three, we would be happy with that without any problem. That would be extraordinary. Who for the third? There are several possible runners… There, again, between having the potential and putting the ball in the back, there is a big difference. Let’s already enjoy it!
