Romain Bardet: 'I have no regrets. We rode an almost perfect race and we tried everything'

Ag2r La Mondiale holds clings to Tour de France podium by one second after disappointing final time trial

A dejected Romain Bardet after stage 20 of the Tour de France

(Image credit: ASO/Bruno Bade)

It says much about Romain Bardet’s expectations of himself that the Frenchman looked totally dejected when he sat down in front of the Tour de France press corps to give his impressions on finishing on the podium for the second consecutive year.

Lying second going into the Marseille time trial, just two seconds ahead of Rigoberto Urán, Bardet would have needed to produce the time trial of his career to hold that position against the Colombian, who’s far more adept in this discipline.

>>> Tour de France 2017: Chris Froome set for historic fourth yellow jersey after dominant time trial

Instead he delivered one of his worst, only hanging on to a podium place by a single second, ahead of Sky’s Mikel Landa.

On the climb up to Marseille’s Notre Dame Basilica, Bardet looked nothing like the rider who had pressed Chris Froome so tenaciously for three weeks. When asked what had gone wrong, he explained he simply run out of juice.

“I’ve been struggling with a cold. I gave everything that I had but it wasn’t enough,” he said. “Unfortunately, that’s how the Tour goes. There are some days where everything works out and others when it doesn’t.

"I rode the time trial with my head, because I knew I wasn’t up to the task physically. After the Izoard, I started to get tired, I didn’t feel all that good but I couldn’t give in.”

>>> Chris Froome: 'I never dreamed of being named alongside Merckx, Anquetil, Hinault, and Indurain'

Bardet said he was proud of what he’d achieved and would, once he has had time to absorb events at the Tour, take heart from his performance. Although he finished a place lower than last year, he has been far more competitive throughout the race.

“I’ve got no regrets,” he continued. “Tactically, we rode an almost perfect race. We tried everything. It gives me real pleasure to see that the team make such an impact, that it can really put other riders into difficulty.”

He confessed that his recent lack of training on his time trial bike had also cost him.

“I don’t like training on it and there’s no doubt that I paid for that today. I need to make more effort in that area. That will give me another boost,” he stated.

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Peter Cossins has been writing about professional cycling since 1993, with his reporting appearing in numerous publications and websites including Cycling WeeklyCycle Sport and Procycling - which he edited from 2006 to 2009. Peter is the author of several books on cycling - The Monuments, his history of cycling's five greatest one-day Classic races, was published in 2014, followed in 2015 by Alpe d’Huez, an appraisal of cycling’s greatest climb. Yellow Jersey - his celebration of the iconic Tour de France winner's jersey won the 2020 Telegraph Sports Book Awards Cycling Book of the Year Award.