First yellow jersey of the 2024 Tour de France, Romain Bardet will have to return to battle this Sunday. Deprived of victory in Rimini, the favorites in the general classification could be tempted to make up for it on a tough course.
An epic in yellow. Cycling France has not had the right to it since 2019. That year, Julian Alaphilippe did even better than that by giving rise to the crazy hope of finally offering a successor to Bernard Hinault, the last French rider to have won the Tour de France, in 1985. Supported by an entire public committed to his cause, “Alaf” took to the game, to the point of dominating the race for fourteen days, including eleven in a row, before giving in to three days of arrival on the Champs, for the benefit of the future winner Egan Bernal.
If it is too early to believe in a similar scenario this summer, Romain Bardet has at least earned the right to dream by winning the first stage of the 2024 Tour this Saturday, in the furnace of Italian roads. Sure of his strength, and as if freed from a weight since he announced his retirement for 2025, the 33-year-old from Auvergne sublimated himself on the banks of the Adriatic to achieve the fourth victory of his career on the Grande Boucle, the first since 2017, and finally don this yellow jersey, a goal that he has long pursued in vain.
A hearty menu from Sunday
“Hats off, I really thought we were going to catch them,” even praised Tadej Pogacar, a good sport after having to settle for the sprint for third place behind Bardet and his model teammate at DSM, the Dutchman Frank van den Broek. Since the plan worked so well between Florence and Rimini, an inevitable question now arises: can Bardet be the hit of July? On paper, answering in the affirmative without an ounce of hesitation would be to delude ourselves given the course and the cast lined up for this 111th edition.
“It will be complicated for Romain from this Sunday with a stage for strong riders between Cesenatico and Bologna. He will have to climb the emblematic San Luca hill twice (1.9km at 10.6%) in the last 40 kilometers. “It’s really a hill for punchers, it doesn’t correspond to Romain’s primary qualities”, warns Jérôme Coppel, 13th in the 2011 Tour. On this route which recalls “a classic like the Flèche Wallonne with the San Luca hill in place of the Mur de Huy”, our consultant can imagine clients like Tadej Pogacar and Primoz Roglic “launching hostilities with the seconds of bonuses to be collected in mind”.
The hope of a new round of observation between favorites
With only a 15-second lead in the general classification over Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and the rest of the big fish of the Tour, Bardet will have to pull out all the stops again to stretch out the yellow dream. “It’s not out of the question that the favourites will look at each other again, especially since it will still be very hot. We were expecting a great fight on this first stage and it didn’t happen. And then Romain showed that he was in great shape,” continues Coppel, who imagines Bardet capable of hanging on until Tuesday and “maybe even until the first time trial” on 5 July.
The After Tour: Romain Bardet in yellow!
On Tuesday, the day after a stage promised to the sprinters between Piacenza and Turin, the peloton will tackle the high mountains for the fifth day of racing. With an ultra-copious menu between Pinerolo and Valloire including the terrible Galibier and its 23km of climbing. “It’s the perfect playground for Pogacar’s UAE to test Vingegaard’s legs. But be careful, the finish will be downhill and we know that Romain has mastered the exercise”, positive Coppel.
“The batteries are empty”
The speech is rather divided on the side of our other consultant Cyrille Guimard: “I see him holding on until Valloire, but it is more the circumstances of the race than his level that will determine whether he keeps the jersey or not. And if there is a real fight between favorites, it could be hard for Romain this Sunday.” “Mentally and physically, the batteries are drained after the day he has just had. He still spent a lot of energy during the stage but also after the race by probably answering dozens of interviews. It is not the best thing to do in terms of recovery”, believes the ex-rider and team manager.
Far from these predictions, Bardet preferred to savor his magnificent number again and again. “It’s the first time I’ve smiled before the start of a Tour de France,” he said at the finish. “Not making the general takes enormous pressure off me. I’m finally myself, and running without ulterior motive is fabulous.” Perhaps the best recipe to continue writing your story.
Rodolphe Ryo, in Rimini (Italy)
