The Unbound 200 may be done for the year, but its riders are still reeling from the tough conditions faced on Saturday’s race.

A combination of rain-exposed rock gardens, torrential pre-race downpours and mud-slick trails took victims throughout the weekend, including 2024’s Unbound 200 winner, Lachlan Morton. The EF Education-EasyPost rider took a hard slam just a quarter of the way into the race, falling heavily on his left hip. Though he managed to pedal to the first aid station, medics diagnosed him with concussion, and he exited the race.

"I had a big slam in one of the rocky sections," Morton said in a post on his team’s Instagram page. "It was of my own doing. Landed on my hip quite hard which is pretty sore right now. The organisers did a great job, they checked me out for concussion once I got back to the aid station. Otherwise, I'm ok, just a little disappointed. The race was going well but [there were] brutal conditions out there."

Morton wasn’t the only rider to abandon early on. Of the 117 riders that started the Unbound 200 elite men’s race, 37 dropped out before its end. In the women’s, 15 of the 62 starters also abandoned. The drop-out rate was even more staggering in the Unbound XL: only 60 riders finished the 350 mile race, of an initial 237 starters.

Huge names joined Morton in an early race exit. In an Instagram post after the race, Romain Bardet praised his fellow riders' ability to manage the mental load of endurance racing as well as the technical skills needed to manage equipment over nine hours: “It was a day for the brave,” he wrote.

Another rider whose dreams of winning Unbound came to an early end was Nicole Frain. After making it into the lead group, the Oceania Champion crashed hard in a mud ridge. After attempting to readjust her handlebars, Frain continued, though riding with crooked handlebars caused back pain enough for her to abandon.

In a post-race Instagram post, she captured the dualism - and brutality - of gravel racing, writing: "Ahhh this race. It was going so good until it wasn’t."

On the other side of a disappointing Unbound, Lachlan Morton echoed Frain's sentiments. "Drove to Kansas , saw some friends, played in the mud [...] got rained out at the rodeo, now I’m driving home," he wrote in an Instagram post. "That’s the game and I’ll keep playing it.”

Mads Würtz Schmidt was the ultimate winner of the men’s 200, with Sofia Gomez Villafañe winning the women’s. In the Unbound XL, Robin Gemperle and Svenja Betz finished first in their categories.

Romain Bardet’s Unbound Gravel debut came to an early end on Saturday, with the retired French star abandoning the race at Matfield Green, around 100 miles into the 2026 edition.

The former Tour de France stage winner was seen riding back into the small Kansas town without his helmet after deciding to step off the course during what has become the muddiest editions of Unbound since 2023. Witnesses on the ground reported Bardet appeared physically okay, stopping briefly to clean himself up after battling through the deteriorating conditions.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms swept across the Flint Hills throughout the day, transforming the famous Kansas gravel roads from fast, sun-cracked surfaces into thick, energy-sapping mud. Riders faced relentless bike-clogging clay, standing water and increasingly treacherous conditions deep into the race.

Bardet had arrived in Emporia at the end of a month-long family road trip across the United States with wife and son, describing his Unbound appearance earlier in the week as a chance to finally experience the event he had heard so much about. The Frenchman stressed before the start that he was "here for fun" rather than chasing a result in his first full season focused on gravel racing after retiring from the WorldTour peloton.

The race remains ongoing with roughly 100 miles still to race at the time of reporting. Specialized Off-Road teammates Keegan Swenson and Mads Würtz Schmidt were leading the men’s event as the brutal conditions continued to shape a dramatic day in Kansas.

It’s prototype-bike galore at Unbound Gravel this year. Some are hiding beneath subtle paint, while others are impossible to miss. There are the oversized 32" wheels on Cam Jones’ and Robin Gemperle’s Scott bikes, the hard-to-ignore fuchsia pink paintjobs on the prototype Liv bikes, and catchy graphics on the prototype from sibling brand Giant.

And then there’s Factor, with a prototype featuring that fork we all have opinions about.

Ridden by celebrated retired WorldTour rider Romain Bardet and several of his Factor teammates, Factor’s latest prototype gravel bike was first spotted at the Traka just weeks ago.

At Unbound, Factor allowed Cycling Weekly to take a closer look and shared some early details through Mike McGinn from its engineering team.

However, the brand would not share any hard numbers; no weights, no aero data, no launch timeline, no price and not even the bike’s eventual name.

Still, there was plenty to learn — and to deduce.

Meet Factor’s next top-tier aero gravel race bike

The design of the prototype bike is unmistakably inspired by Factor’s wildly polarising ONE road bike, complete with the dramatically wide fork intended not merely to cheat the wind, but to actively manage airflow before it reaches the rider’s legs.

And according to Factor, that controversial concept works.

“People are warming up to this wild-looking fork, and we know it’s faster," said Mike McGinn.

McGinn explained that the wide fork is designed to manipulate airflow before it reaches the rider’s legs and frame.

"Aerodynamics works a lot like refraction with light," he said, describing how the fork changes airflow downstream across the bike and rider rather than simply reducing drag at the fork itself.

The new gravel prototype takes that same aero philosophy and adapts it for the realities of modern gravel racing: massive clearances, a balance of compliance and stiffness, and, of course, aerodynamics.

But McGinn admitted that it wasn’t the brand's originally intention to use that ONE-inspired fork design on gravel.

"We already had riders planned to ride the original fork, but this was faster," he said.

And, we’ll admit that when it comes to pure aesthetics, that wide fork filled in with 50mm+ tyres looks more proportional and less radical.

"With this one, we tried to tailor it more to an acceptable visual language," McGinn said. "The result is, like you said, less offensive on the eyes."

Unlike, what McGinn called, a "bayoneted front end" used on the ONE, this gravel bike uses a standard steerer tube and bearing setup, requiring Factor’s engineers to adapt the aero concept into a more conventional package.

Factor says that once the bike is officially launched, most complete builds will ship with 50mm tyres, but the frame itself clears up to 2.2-inch rubber. Yet despite that huge clearance, chainstays remain remarkably short at 420mm, keeping the bike responsive and agile.

"There is nothing that’s even close to that," McGinn claimed, pointing out that many competing 2.2" gravel bikes now stretch to 435mm rear ends and mountain-bike-like wheelbases.

"This bike was meant for core connection to terrain," McGinn said. "You’re meant to feel like it’s a rocket ship."

When we reviewed the ONE, that's exactly what our tester called it: a "spaceship," so that could bode well for this new bike.

That focus on speed has been the topic of conversation at races like Unbound these past few years, and the industry is converging on the same solution: pairing aggressive aerodynamics with ever-wider tyres in the pursuit of outright speed over rough terrain.

Factor’s answer is this: an unapologetically aero gravel race bike designed around sustained high speeds while keeping riders relatively comfortable.

Interestingly, unlike other bikes in this category, Factor is keeping 2x drivetrain compatibility alive as well as downtube storage.

That decision, however, came with major engineering challenges. McGinn explained that packaging short chainstays, 2.2in tyre clearance and a front derailleur into the same frame pushed the limits of what was physically possible.

"You can’t run a 2x with anything over a 47 anyway, so there was a lot of hemming and hawing," he said.

Ultimately, Factor decided to preserve the option and found a way.

“We had to look at creative ways to manage stiffness and structural requirements in that area,” he explained.

The geometry itself was also redesigned around modern oversized gravel tyres. Factor lowered the bottom bracket to compensate for the taller tyre profile and adjusted trail figures to preserve handling characteristics despite the jump in tyre volume.

McGinn also revealed the bike uses size-specific fork offsets — typically 50-51mm on larger sizes and 56mm on smaller frames — helping maintain more consistent handling across the size range while reducing toe overlap on smaller bikes.

“Above 33kph, you get it”

French rider Gustave Orain, who is also racing the prototype at Unbound, described the bike as surprisingly comfortable despite its aggressive intent.

"What I like the most with this bike, it's the exact same geometry as the Aluto fully slammed. So you switch from an all-road gravel bike to an absolute aero bike without losing any comfort or compromise," Orain shared.

"The first thing I've been super surprised about is that it’s actually the exact same [ride quality] as the Aluto, but faster."

That theme kept resurfacing throughout the conversation. The expectation is that a bike this extreme-looking would ride harshly. But McGinn insists modern carbon engineering has moved well beyond that compromise.

"The biggest compliment we got from the ONE was: ‘It rides like a bike'," McGinn said with a laugh. "Because it looks like it doesn’t."

But make no mistake: this bike is designed to come alive at speed.

"Above 33 kilometres an hour, you’re like, ‘Okay. I got it,’" Orain said.

McGinn compared it directly to the ONE’s road-racing personality.

"If you ride the ONE below 40kph, people say it’s hard to manipulate,” he said. “You have to get it to speed for it to really work."

Going above 30kph, or 18mph, should not be a problem at Unbound, where 2025 elite men’s winner Cam Jones averaged 37.8kph (23.49mph) over the 202-mile course, completing it in a record-shattering 8:37:09. On the women’s side, Karolina Migon won with an average speed of 32.4kph (20.1mph).

Unlike Scott’s “never going to market” approach, Factor’s prototype does not appear to be a one-off experimental machine. Quite the contrary

"There is a very, very, very high chance that this is the bike that we come to market with," McGinn said with more than a subtle hint.

And despite the mixed reactions to the aesthetics of its fork, Factor seems increasingly emboldened by the response to the ONE.

"It’s the bike you didn’t know you needed until you tried it," McGinn said.

Time will tell if the gravel market follows suit.

French star Romain Bardet has wasted little time following his retirement from road racing in the middle of last season, switching to gravel and, winning the RADL GRVL event in Australia.

Bardet's new Factor Racing-Rapha CC team took honours across the board, with team-mates Cameron Jones and Nicole Frain claiming the men's runner-up spot and the women's victory respectively in the Pro events.

With a 7,000AUD ($4,800/ $3,500) prize purse at stake, the winners took solo victories in what was the third running of the RADL GRVL, held over 127 lumpy kilometres around McLaren Vale, South Australia. Bardet attacked repeatedly during the hilly finale to excavate what was a 54-second winning gap, while Frain's was a day-long solo escape, following an attack in the first 15km.

With the race also representing the inaugural Oceania Gravel Championships, Australia's Frain ran out a double winner, and Jones, from New Zealand, claimed the men's title.

A strong line-up across both men's and women's events also saw the USA's Alexey Vermeulen (3rd) and Ian Boswell (6th) place highly in the former, and Britain's Danni Shrosbree sixth in the women's.

Bardet, who retired in June following a 14-season pro career, became one of France's big Grand Tour hopes following a second-place finish in the 2016 Tour de France. He was never able to go one better and take the top spot in any of the three-week races, though he did win the mountains jersey in 2019 and is a four-time stage winner there.

He retired after last year's Critérium du Dauphiné and only allowed himself a short break before pitching headlong into the gravel scene. He rode seven events in the second half of last year, scoring two Gravel World Series wins, in the Monsterrato in Italy and in France's 66 Degrés Sud.

In a team interview following signing his contract to Factor Racing, Bardet said he would be treating gravel with respect, "otherwise you get your ass kicked every weekend".

Equally, he said he was looking forward to rediscovering the joy in riding, and racing, a bike, following the pressures of the WorldTour.

"I wanted to get the balance back," he said. "I ride bikes for myself first, because I enjoy it. I am really happy to be lining up at the races this year because it’s engaging for me. I am looking forward to travelling to some different places to explore and enjoy the different things that come along when you are riding your bike.”

Pulling on the yellow jersey for the first time in his glittering career made for a fairytale ending to day one of Romain Bardet’s last dance at his home Grand Tour. 

Although it was the sun-drenched roads of Italy’s Emilia Romagna region that provided the backdrop for Bardet to add yet another chapter to the story of his long association with the Tour de France. 

Earlier this week, before travelling to Florence for the Grand Départ, Bardet’s dsm–firmenich PostNL squad announced that the Frenchman would head up their Tour roster one last time. Stage wins were the goal, but not a single rider on the eight-man team would have expected one to materialise so quickly. At least that’s what Bardet’s teammate, Oscar Onley, told reporters gathered at the stage one finish in a scorching hot Rimini on the Adriatic coast. 

Speaking in his post-race press conference after pulling on the yellow jersey, Bardet highlighted the contribution of another one of his teammates, 23-year-old Frank van den Broek, who made the day’s early breakaway before then acting as an impromptu satellite rider for Bardet to aim for once he had taken flight from the peloton on the Côte de San Leo. 

The selfless Frenchman said afterwards that the win belonged to Van den Broek as much as it did to him after the Dutchman turned himself inside out to bring his leader to the finish line. 

"It was the only way we could do it today," Bardet said. "I say 'we' because he won as much as me today. It's just the way we wanted to race here. It's the first day of his first-ever Tour de France and he was one of the three guys with Warren [Barguil] and me to have permission to be in the break today and to see if we could score some points and maybe go all the way. 

"It's crazy to be the strongest from the initial break and it was the confirmation that we could go all the way to the finish. I think I wouldn't have done it without him so it was a collective victory."

Pure cycling

After his gruelling ride across the steep climbs of the Apennine mountains, Bardet at times seemed unable to believe it himself that he’d pulled off his first stage win at the Tour since 2017 when racing in the colours of the AG2R La Mondiale team. 

When asked by Cycling Weekly to describe how it felt to pull on yellow, the Frenchman seemed at first lost for words. 

He then said: "It's hard to say as I feel like I'm in a washing machine. It was just pure cycling. We are just two mates on the bike riding as fast as we can and going through pain. We knew it would be hard in the last 15km, but we got more confident as we went further and further.

"It was honestly when we realised that the finish line was in sight in the last 200m… It was pure joy."

Oscar Onley told a group of journalists at the finish that the team’s dominant performance wasn’t planned, it was pure spontaneity after Bardet made it clear that he had the legs for something special. 

"It's just racing on instinct," Onley said. "That was definitely not planned today. He [Bardet] just said on the radio he felt good and asked if he should go. Matt Winston [team’s lead sports director] in the team car just said, 'Yeah, give it a go, we have Frank up the road to help.' It's just incredible."

"It's Romain's last Tour and he wanted to put on a show," Onley added. "I think he did that and by the sounds of things, Frank was unbelievably strong. We all know how much of an engine he has. I'm sure today in those last 15km he really showed the worth he has in this team."

Describing the moment that his and Bardet’s gap to the peloton began to tumble, Van den Broek said there was no other option but to ride hard and hope for the best. 

He said: "It was just head down and pushing the last energy out of my legs. Maybe in a few hours, I'll realise what we’ve done. But that was just unbelievable."

"First and second on the first Tour stage, taking the jersey, I don't think you can ask for so much more," DS Matt Winston later added at the finish. "It means a lot and we will certainly enjoy it. 

"But it's day one of the Tour, we've still got 20 stages to go and we don't change our focus. We'll defend the jersey for as long as we can, but even if we lose it tomorrow, we're still doing an amazing job."

The Tour de France continues on Sunday with the riders set to tackle 199km between Cesenatico and Bologna. 

Romain Bardet suffered concussion on stage 14 of the Tour de France and was in no appropriate state to continue racing, DSM-Firmenich’s sports director Matt Winston has said.

The Frenchman crashed midway through the stage with EF Education-EasyPost’s James Shaw, and both riders were forced to abandon. The incident was described by Winston as a “high-speed crash on a left hand bend… as they came down a fast descent.”

Bardet was 12th on GC ahead of the stage and would have been targeting a top-10 finish and a stage win in the final week. His crash left his team with a conundrum: to let him continue or to withdraw him despite his protests.

“Romain was a little dazed,” Winston recollected. “He wanted to continue in the race, but the race doctor and myself assessed the situation and it wouldn’t have been smart to continue at that point. 

“Romain is a guy who loves the Tour de France, he loves racing in France and for sure he wants to continue for as long as possible but you also have to look after the athlete and make sure that we take the smart steps in these moments. 

“It’s easy to get back on the bike and see how it goes for 10km but he does have a concussion, the medical staff have confirmed that, and to continue wouldn’t have been the best thing overall and for the long-term.”

Winston admitted that he understood the significance of the decision - the team’s principle goal in the race was to target GC with Bardet - but further outlined the reasons.

“It was for sure not easy, and there were moments after that were I was thinking did I make the right choice,” he added. “He was a little bit dazed and when he stood up I didn’t feel like he was directly jumping back onto his feet as quickly as he should. Any guy who rides for our team I don’t want to risk their long term health - it’s not worth it.

“We always do our own in-house concussion checks - it’s really important to our team - and we really want to put those guys first and look after them. You can tell quite quickly when you know someone really well and you speak to them directly, you can tell if they are not OK.

“In this moment he wanted to continue but he was not looking in good shape. When we stood him up and we could feel it wasn’t right. It wasn’t right. He is really upset. He for sure is going to be devastated.”

Bardet’s parents are in the Alps and may drive him back home to his base in central France, but the team are acutely aware of the importance of the first 48 hours after concussion.

Read more: Concussion - is enough being done to protect the peloton?

It is a subject that the sport is only just beginning to take seriously, and the Dutch team may decide that Bardet has to stay put in a hotel over the next few days before moving.

“The thing with concussion is that we have to make sure we protect the athlete now,” Winston continued. “We can’t say he’ll be racing in two weeks - you just cannot take that call. It can take time. Hopefully we see him back racing soon but you cannot put a time limit on it. 

There was a time when Romain Bardet would have been among those with the shortest odds to win the Tour de France. 

He was the home nation's chosen champion, after all. In 2016, the then 25-year-old finished second to Chris Froome, before going on to round out the podium the following year. At the roadside, crowds roared him on as the man to end a three-decade spell without a French winner. 

Now, aged 32, Bardet’s outlook is different. He knows his name isn’t uttered alongside the likes of Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, but he’s still got his eye on GC. 

“It’s becoming a bit of a game,” the Frenchman told a select group of media, including Cycling Weekly, at Team DSM’s season launch on Tuesday. “I had more pressure before because I knew I could have maybe been the best at some point. I was stepping up year by year at the Tour. 

“Now, it’s obvious that I won’t be the best guy, or amongst the two, three or four best favourites. That keeps me really pushing all the way in terms of tactics and also in training before to really raise my level to try to match the young guys.” 

This year will mark Bardet’s tenth assault on his home Grand Tour. After abandoning a promising Giro d’Italia campaign with illness last season, the Frenchman finished sixth at the Tour, but hopes for better this time round. 

“I know already some guys are faster and stronger than me,” he said. “But you never know in the Tour. Despite two really shit days last year, I was still competing in the fight for a long time for the podium. I hope to be in the same place next year, with some better legs.” 

After last year’s edition, Bardet revealed he took inspiration from 2018 yellow jersey winner Geraint Thomas, who rode his way onto the race's third step at 36 years old. 

“His performance was really brilliant,” Bardet said of the Ineos Grenadiers rider, who grappled with riders ten years his junior throughout the three-week race. “For a guy who already won the Tour, to really fight when the other two guys [Pogačar and Vingegaard] went and almost get dropped every time, he was the last survivor of the fight. 

“It was a really inspiring performance to see,” the Frenchman continued. “I think he has shown that even at 36 he can still reach his best. I think he was probably even better than when he won the Tour.” 

Could Bardet, also in his thirties, follow in the Welshman’s footsteps this July? “I don’t want to set particular results that I have to go for,” he replied elusively. “I just want to have a good, smooth preparation and be able to give it a go.

“I’m still, I think, a GC rider and I work for that all year round,” Bardet added. “If I finish 6th or 7th or 8th and I’ve done everything I can, I will be happy with that.”

There is a strong case to be made that if Romain Bardet had not been forced out of the Giro d'Italia with illness, the Frenchman would have gone onto win the race. 

He was looking in his best form for years, had just come off the back of a win at the Tour of the Alps, and was flying high on general classification as the race meandered towards its crucial final week. His rivals were either unproven or flawed, and there was a consensus that he was finally back at the top.

Sadly for him, and for Team DSM, Bardet quit the Giro on stage 14, suffering from illness, ruining their carefully laid plans.

The early withdrawal from the Giro does mean, however, that he is ready and raring to go for the Tour de France, which begins in just over a fortnight. The Frenchman confirmed the news in a social media post on Monday morning, his first Tour for DSM.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly on Monday afternoon, Bardet said he was "pretty excited" to be heading back to the French Grand Tour, his home race. It is the scene of his greatest successes, where he twice finished on the podium, finishing second in 2016 and then third in 2017, both times behind Chris Froome. He has also won three stages at the race.

Last year, he missed the Tour for the first year since 2012, as he raced the Giro instead, where he finished seventh on general classification, and then the Vuelta a España, where he won a stage, his first victory in three years.

"To be honest, I'm pretty excited," Bardet said. "I don't think it will be a different story because the Tour remains the Tour. On the approach, I naturally expected to be at the Tour, but I really hoped to have a successful Giro before. It's a bit of a change for me, we have to adapt. 

"I have no racing before the Tour, just some training, so there is much more unknown. We will line up with a super aggressive team, and hopefully do something like the team did in the past, going for some nice stage wins together."

He is referencing the 2020 Tour, where DSM, then Sunweb, won three stages at the race through Søren Kragh Andersen and Marc Hirschi. More than that, though, the team impressed through their dynamic racing, always seeming to be on the front foot. It was a blueprint for how a team can ride the Tour without a focal general classification rider.

On that, Bardet maintains that he will not be aiming for high up on GC as he goes into the race.

"GC is not the goal," he said. "It's so frustrating for me, with the Giro, and the last time at the Tour I did not finish with a crash. I just need to enjoy the racing a bit more. Take it stage by stage, it looks like a super hard Tour, and I just want to be healthy and also a bit safe. Hopefully have some good rides in the mountains."

He was forced out of the pandemic-delayed 2020 edition after suffering concussion in a crash, so it will be a case of making sure of staying upright first and foremost, and then seeing where he is at.

Bardet's form is a mystery, seeing as he was seemingly on top of it heading into the Giro, but then has not raced since. It is a mystery for the man from Haute-Loire as much as it is for people in the media or his fans.

"That's the main question," Bardet said. "That's what I keep asking myself now. I don't really know, we will see. I only did two weeks at the Giro, then I was off the bike for one week, and then we start from the bottom again. For sure I won't be in top shape at the start, but I will try to do my best to be fully good again in the Tour."

Joining him at the Tour will be his compatriot and old rival Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), also taking part in his first edition since 2020. For fans of nostalgia everywhere, it would be fun to have some more of the Pinot-Bardet show this July.

Romain Bardet is set to return to the Tour de France next month. The Frenchman confirmed the news in a social media post on Monday morning.

It will be the first time that Bardet has ridden the Tour for Team DSM, who he joined at the beginning of 2021; the last time he rode the French Grand Tour was in 2020, his final year with AG2R La Mondiale. He failed to finish on that occasion, suffering from concussion.

The 31-year-old left the Giro d'Italia early last month due to illness. He was lying in 4th overall when he was forced to leave the race on stage 13. 

Last year, he missed the Tour for the first year since 2012, as he raced the Giro instead, where he finished seventh on general classification, and then the Vuelta a España, where he won a stage, his first victory in three years.

“Super excited to announce I will be at the Tour de France with DSM! We have been building up to this one with everyone so looking forward to racing in front of our French fans again,” he wrote on Instagram.

Bardet was looking good at the Giro, as he was high up on the general classification, alongside riders like Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious), Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and eventual winner Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe).

When his teammate Romain Combaud was interviewed after stage 14 at that race, he said: "There was only one week left. It's horrible for us. He is a great champion." However, now Bardet has the opportunity to make up for it.

He won the Tour of the Alps back in April, his first general classification win since 2013, proving he had the legs for an overall challenge, one which he was forced out of doing at the Giro.

The Frenchman has twice finished on the podium of the Tour de France, finishing second in 2016 and then third in 2017, both times behind Chris Froome. He will be joining his compatriot and old rival Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) at the Tour next month, so there will be a bit of nostalgia at the race.

The Tour begins with a time trial in Copenhagen on the 1 July. There is not a lot of time-trialling in this year's race, which could favour Bardet, but it is hard to know if he is anywhere near the level of two-time winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), who are considered the favourites.

Professional cycling is a cruel sport. At the beginning of this week, Romain Bardet was justifiably talking up his prospects of finishing high on general classification at this Giro d'Italia. Days later, he was reduced to throwing up on the bike, unable to continue.

You don't see this often in football or cricket, athletes forcing themselves onto the field while vomiting. It isn't fair, cycling isn't fair. It isn't the first time that illness has forced someone out of a bike race, but it doesn't feel any more fine. Bardet might not have been denied his continued participation in a bizarre manner like Biniam Girmay, but is still out nonetheless.

It has robbed the fans, the journalists, the history books, of one piece of a potentially thrilling edition of the Giro. It has also robbed Bardet of a dream opportunity of challenging for a Grand Tour, he had been going so well.

His teammate, compatriot, and namesake Romain Combaud was visibly emotional at the finish. As he might be, considering it's the end of a long term plan for Bardet and DSM to challenge at this Giro. 

"There was only one week left. It's horrible for us. He is a great champion," Combaud told the press after stage 14.

"My role today was to stay with him. We said we would have an easy day, and he would get better tonight. But with the heat it was just too much for him.

"We promised to do great things for each other at this Giro. I was happy to come here and help him. Today that hurts but we will carry on."

Combaud was also Bardet's roommate at this race. It must be hard to imagine the remainder of this race without him, it will be a lonely experience. The effort put into 4th on GC so far must have been immense, and just thrown away in s second.

Matt Winston, coach at Team DSM described the situation as "really difficult", which feels like an understatement. Bardet wasn't single-handedly rescuing his team's season, but he almost was.

"It was really difficult," Winston said. "He started the stage yesterday and after about 10km he was being sick. We looked after him through the stage, trying to keep him cool with ice and water and really look after him and nurse him through the stage.

"He slept the whole way back in the bus after the race. He didn't eat last night, he couldn't eat anything. He was awake all night being sick."

One can only imagine the worried looks traded across the team bus and the hotel buffet, as DSM staff and riders wondered what on earth was going to happen, what they were going to do.

What do you do in that situation? When your team leader was visibly unwell and probably unable to continue. I'd probably panic.

"This morning there was a small chance he could finish today but Romain's a fighter," Winston continued. "He wanted to start the stage, he wanted to go for it. But he was already being sick in the neutral and it just wasn't possible to continue.

"He was really ready and we prepared in a really good way in this race. It's super disappointing but we still have options here. We're not going to give up now, we're going to keep fighting, and we'll see where we come in Verona."

Thankfully, DSM have Thymen Arensman in 11th place, under 90 seconds behind the race lead, and they have already won a sprint with Alberto Dainese on stage 11. Unfortunately, there isn't another sprinting opportunity until stage 18, but Arensman might well take this chance to prove himself.

It will not be the same without Bardet, however. The race has now lost one of its leading lights; Grand Tour racing is hard, it is unforgiving, and DSM and their starring Frenchman have faced its nasty side.

Romain Bardet has been forced to abandon the Giro d'Italia after succumbing to illness.

Friday's stage 13 proved unlucky for the Frenchman, who rides for Team DSM, as he was forced to climb off his bike with about 114km still to go on the day.

Bardet had ridden himself into contention for the maglia rosa, and was sitting in fourth on general classification at the beginning of stage 13.

It deprives the race of one of its leading contenders for the win before it hits the Alps next week.

In a tweet, DSM said: "We are sad to confirm that Romain has abandoned the Giro. After becoming sick during yesterday’s stage, his condition worsened overnight and despite all efforts, he is no longer in a position to continue the race."

He trailed Juan Pedro López, the race leader, by just 14 seconds, and it was thought that this might finally be the chance for him to challenge for the top step of the podium at a Grand Tour, following his two previous podium finishes at the Tour de France.

Speaking on the second rest day, Bardet said that "maybe" himself, Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) and Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) are the "three best" at this year's race.

Now his rivals are left to challenge for victory. There are still 11 riders within 90 seconds of López, including his young teammate Thymen Arensman, who will now be expected to step up in the absence of his leader.

It is a disappointing end to his challenge, which looked in a good place after the opening stages of the Giro. The Frenchman came into the race after winning the Tour of the Alps, his first GC win in almost ten years.

Up to this point, it had been an impressive Giro for Team DSM, with two riders in the top 12, and a stage win for the unheralded sprinter Alberto Dainese this week,

Now, they will be forced to refocus their efforts, potentially on stage wins, but also on their young hope Arensman. The Dutchman has looked capable if unthreatening so far, but if he has the staying power in the mountains he could still turn in an impressive result come Verona.

There might be 12 riders within 90 seconds of each other at this year's Giro d'Italia after nine stages, but for Romain Bardet there are two riders he is looking out for.

Speaking from Italy via Zoom on the second rest day, the Team DSM rider said that "maybe" himself, Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) and Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) are the "three best" at this year's race.

The trio failed to breakaway from the other favourites on Sunday's stage to Blockhaus, instead finishing on the same time as João Almedia (UAE-Team Emirates) and Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe). 

However, the trio did look the most lively on the final climb, with only Bardet and Landa able to follow Carapaz's big attack, even if it did amount to little in the end.

"It was a pretty big attack, and a sudden change of pace, so it was all out," the Frenchman explained. "There's still a long time to go. In the last few kilometres Landa was super strong also. We've shown that maybe that we're the three best, but we didn't manage to get much of a gap, but it was still a good day."

"I think it was the first really hard stage of this Giro," he said. "It was a first test. The stage before was very demanding, so it was very good to be up there with the best guys, even if we didn't make a big time difference."

As much as one can work out over a dodgy internet connection to the south of Italy, Bardet looked very relaxed, comfortable in his status as one of the favourites for the maglia rosa. His first GC win for almost ten years at the Tour of the Alps last month must have given him confidence, and at 31, he has the experience to help his undeniable skill.

This is his second Giro, after he finished seventh at last year's race. After leaving AG2R La Mondiale for Team DSM at the end of 2020, the Frenchman looks relieved of the burden of having to target the Tour de France, as he did for eight consecutive editions from 2013 to 2020.

"You can see that teams maybe have less control on the race than at the Tour," he said. "It's more open, and so far over the nine days the GC classification is still really tight. It's pretty interesting."

As the race goes into its second week, the mountains are put away for a bit, with a few more rolling stages. One would suggest this might be relaxing, but nothing is every really relaxing at the Giro.

"The first four stages of this second week are not maybe the most suitable for big change, but still it's the Giro, so you never know," Bardet told the media. "There are some climbs in the final, and with the tension in the bunch... we also have to focus on these stages."

Stage 11 looks like another day purely for the sprinters, but the rest of this week could be dominated by the breakaway, although as Bardet said, anything could happen. Stage 14 is certainly one that could see an ambush happen, before the race returns to the serious mountains next Sunday. A different GC leaderboard ahead of the next rest day is very possible.

During this Giro it was announced that Bardet had extended his contract with Team DSM, which will keep him at the team until at least 2024.

"I'm feeling good and performing well," he said. "Everything is really good for me here. Since I joined I've made big steps, and again I'm successful on the bike. Off the bike it's a really good environment to live in."

He also has the advantage, at the Giro anyway, of working alongside Thymen Arensman, who is also up there on GC, just 1-27 behind the race leader.

"Thymen is a super nice guy and I think it's super good that we can both be there in the final," Bardet said. :It's a good advantage for us."

It's clear the pair get on well, and Arensman seems just as relaxed as his teammate, checking in that his hair looks OK before answering any questions.

"It’s a great learning experience for the future. I’m really happy to be here," the 22-year-old Dutchman said.

"It has been a great first week, also very nice to ride a bit in the front and help Romain. Also with a good and strong team here, it’s good to be at the front of the bunch and help each other."

At times in this race, it has seemed very 2015 with Ineos Grenadiers aping their old Sky tactics and utilising their fabled mountain train. With Bardet again up there on GC, that's another thing that feels archaic. Except maybe now it's different, maybe he can win.

Romain Bardet has said "I haven’t shared the doubts of the riders who left, so it’s not easy for me to understand" after various riders have broken contracts with Team DSM.

A recent piece by Sporza  was posted hours before the team's 2022 presentation, it included unnamed riders saying the way the team was run was like a "Soviet regime" with another adding they were "treated like little children".

Bardet, however, has flourished at DSM making his Giro d'Italia debut where he finished seventh overall as well as taking a stage at the Vuelta a España and the Vuelta a Burgos. 

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In an interview with CyclingNews, Bardet said that riders breaking contract and leaving has not impacted on morale in the team, thanks to its transparency. 

"It’s always very honest: you know that you have to give the best of yourself, because it’s the least you can do in such a high-level environment. And the team has always thought in terms of what’s best for the whole group.

"Of course, sometimes riders have different ambitions, but no departure has affected the morale of the riders here, because we have confidence in the work of the staff and the experts around the team on a daily basis. 

"It’s not a disruption. It’s honest and courageous on the part of the team to allow someone to follow his own path and leave rather than have a conflict. From my point of view, it hasn’t affected us. I haven’t shared the doubts of the riders who left, so it’s not easy for me to understand."

Over the last few years multiple high-profile riders have broken their contract with the team, with Marcel Kittel, Michael Matthews, Tom Dumoulin, Marc Hirschi, Warren Barguil and most recently Tiesj Benoot all leaving early. 

Former rider Ilan Van Wilder took legal action against the team as he wanted to leave. He has now joined Deceuninck - Quick-Step after breaking his three-year contract with DSM.

Two anonymous riders told Sporza: "Woe to you if you had trained a little bit differently for a day. You immediately got on the phone with an angry staff member and you had to justify yourself.”

"They had a protocol for everything. It was really extreme. And every year new rules were added. Rules that get on riders' nerves.

"We felt that we had to listen to Mr. and Mrs. the teacher all the time. We were treated like little children. If you didn't do something right, you had to stand in the corner, as it were.

"Some riders may need that approach. But especially the older riders do not need many superfluous rules that were then unnecessarily complex."

The team is seeing 10 riders leave at the end of this season with just two retiring in Nicolas Roche and potentially 24-year-old Martin Salmon.

The others leaving are the formally mentioned Benoot and Van Wilder as well as Jai Hindley to Bora-Hansgrohe, Michael Storer to Groupama-FDJ, Jasha Sütterlin to Bahrain Victorious, Max Kanter to Movistar, Felix Gall to Ag2r-Citroën and Chad Haga to Rally Cycling.

John Degenkolb, Jonas Hvideberg, Sam Welsford and Frederick Rodenberg Madsen and a couple of DSM development riders are down to join the team for 2022.

A resurgent Romain Bardet took the win from the breakaway atop the summit finish of stage 14 at the 2021 Vuelta a España.

The Frenchman had made his way into the day's move up the road, winning enough KOM points along the way to take the mountain's jersey before his attack on the final climb moved him clear of his rivals, keeping them at bay as he crossed the line first.

Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) finished second, unable to bring back Bardet in the closing kilometres, as Alpecin-Fenix's Jay Vine took a well-deserved third after crashing into his team car earlier in the day. Tom Pidcock then coming through in fourth.

On the final summit climb, second-overall Guillaume Martin and Cofidis tried to put the red jersey of Odd Christian Eiking into difficulty, but ultimately only stole a couple of seconds from him, as Roglič and the GC favourites shaved 20 seconds off of their advantage as the bunch split in the final few hundred metres, Miguel Ángel López, Roglič, Enric Mas, Egan Bernal and Jack Haig finishing ahead of the others.

How it happened

After the neutralised zone the attacks started coming thick and fast, the bunch stretching as riders tried to get into the day’s move, and soon a group of nearly 20 had a gap.

In there was Tom Pidcock, Romain Bardet, Lotto-Soudal’s Matthew Holmes, Arnaud Démare, Jay Vine, Arnaud Démare and Jan Tratnik, a move with real talent in it.

Intermarché were patrolling the peloton, the gap sitting at four minutes, Odd Christian Eiking perhaps enjoying his final day in the red jersey with the summit finish coming up later in the day.

Soon the break’s advantage was six minutes, then eight, getting up towards nine as it ticked under 100km to go, things already looking good for those up front with a desire for stage glory.

The first climb was the third category Puerto Berzocama, Bardet taking maximum points and now only one behind KOM leader Damiano Caruso, Bardet’s former team-mate also picking up one solitary KOM point - a collector’s item if ever there was one.

After the climb, with 70km remaining and the gap at 10 minutes, Jumbo-Visma came to the fore, Holmes then leading the still intact breakaway up the second climb of the day, Puerto Collado de Ballesteros, which peaks at 20 per cent in places.

By the top of the climb, the breakaway was in bits, Bardet going clear in the final 500m and splintering the move, taking the KOM jersey.

Into the final 50km and the break had regrouped at the bottom of the climb, Jumbo-Visma still shepherding behind but happy for those up ahead to contest the day’s glory as they focus on keeping Roglič’s powder dry.

Matthew Holmes then attacked, going clear with Prodhomme and Navarro, before the Brit suffered a very unfortunately-timed puncture, the other two now with 22 seconds on of their former collaborators.

Soon, the pair up front had a minute’s advantage with under 40km to go, Navarro the first through the intermediate sprint.

Behind in the originally breakaway group, there was a really nasty crash for Alpecin-Fenix’s Jay Vine, who’s been mightily impressive this Vuelta, as he was too close to his team car when trying to take a bottle, losing his balance, hitting the side before hitting the deck, thankfully not becoming entangled with his support vehicle. He remained on the ground for some time and looked hurt and shaken up by the incident.

Up ahead, the two leaders were brought back with 25km to the line, Holmes leading a counter-attack, riding with the bit between his teeth after his earlier misfortune, followed by Bardet and Champoussin.

Then, another crash, Navarro and Vanmarcke getting their line wrong around a corner trying to follow Prodhomme and going straight off the road after Navarro rode straight into the Belgian, Prodhomme left alone up front, shaking his head.

Soon, Prodhomme had a minute, the climb to the summit finish only a few kilometres away now. Behind, Jumbo-Visma were still at the head of proceedings, but Movistar lurked ominously.

With 12km to go, now on the climb, Romain Bardet attacked, Vine and Pidcock trying to get back on terms but the break once again blown to pieces on the uphill roads of stage 14.

Those three were then joined by Herrada and Champoussin, the quintet 40 seconds behind Prodhomme, the Frenchman having recovered and looking much more composed on the climb than he had been, extending his advantage slightly as he went under the 10km banner.

Movistar then took over from Jumbo-Visma as the peloton began the climb. The attacks then started coming from the breakaway as Prodhomme failed to falter, Geniets going before Pidcock had a dig, then Holmes once more, Bardet responding.

Vine was still there, his race numbers flapping off his back as he battled the gradient, before Bardet put in a big attack, dropping Pidcock and Holmes, bringing Zeits back, who had gone off in search of the stage, just as the BikeExchange man had bridged across to Prodhomme who had finally succumbed.

Bardet had half a minute with 4km to go, as Vanmarck, battered and bruised, was caught and passed by the Trek-Segafredo-led peloton behind.

Ahead, Vine then left the rest of the chase group behind, Herrada trying to bring him back.

2km to go and Bardet had 45 seconds, Vine and Herrada not making a dent in his progress.

Cofidis then came to the front of the peloton, sensing weakness in Eiking and Guillaume Martin ready to pounce in second place overall.

They didn't manage to break the Intermarché man, however, and instead lost around 20 seconds as the likes of Roglič, Mas, López, Haig and Bernal sprinted clear up the final few hundred uphill metres.

Results

Vuelta a España 2021, stage 14: Don Benito to Pico Villuercas (165.7km)

1. Romain Bardet (Fra) DSM, in 4-20-36
2. Jesús Herrada (Esp) Cofidis, at 44s
3. Jay Vine (Aus) Alpecin-Fenix, at same time
4. Tom Pidcock (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1-12
5. Clément Champoussin (Fra) Ag2r Citroën, at 1-14
6. Matthew Holmes (GBr) Lotto-Soudal, at 1-16
7. Andrey Zeits (Kaz) BikeExchange, at 1-19
8. Kevin Geniets (Lux) Groupama-FDJ, at 1-46
9. Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) Ag2r Citroën, at 2-04
10. Jan Tratnik (Slo) Bahrain-Victorious, at 2-15

General classification after stage 14

1. Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, in 55-03-17
2. Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis, at 54s
3. Primož Roglič (Slo) Jumbo-Visma, at 1-36
4. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, at 2-11
5. Miguel Ángel López (Col) Movistar, at 3-04
6. Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious, at 3-25
7. Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, at 4-21
8. Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadies, at 4-49
9. Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma, at 4-59
10. Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 5-31

Romain Bardet fell out of overall contention in the Vuelta a España 2021 after being caught out in a large crash in the final 10km of the fifth stage.

The French Team DSM rider was sitting in a good position in the general classification, at just under a minute to the now former leader Rein Taaramäe (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), who also lost time in the fall.

Bardet finished 180th on the stage alongside Ben Zwiehoff (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Mikel Nieve (BikeExchange), who also both came down hard. They all lost 12-32 to the peloton that was led in by Belgian sprinter Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix).

A statement from Team DSM said: "After the final rider was brought back into the peloton with 15k kilometres to race the pace continued to rise and the peloton remained nervous. 

"A touch of wheels near the front of the peloton saw a large number of riders hit the deck with just over 10 kilometres left, including Bardet who received checks on the road before continuing to finish some time down on his team-mate [Alberto] Dainese at the front of the race." 

Bardet is now in 93rd place overall, 13-32 down on the frontrunners. 

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Team sports director, Matt Winston spoke briefly to Eurosport after the stage: "We never want to crash. It was a shame but we're happy we have Dyneema in our kit because, once again, it saved the majority of the injuries and he was able to come through.

"He's got a little bit of pain but definitely the Dyneema once again saved us - We don't know the extent of the injury [to his knee] yet."

Dyneema is a protective jersey and shorts used by the team that is designed to not break on impact with the road and to protect riders when involved in crashes, particularly protecting the arms, side and legs.. 

This is a disappointing crash for Bardet and the team who looked to be in a good position with Bardet, after an unusually good time trial in the opening stage followed by a solid enough ride on the first climbing day on stage three.

The French climber also came in with form after winning a stage and holding the leader's jersey for a couple of days at the recent Vuelta a Burgos, a week before this race.

The extent of Bardet's injuries are not yet known, but if he is still fit to ride the team now has a great option to go for stage wins in the huge amount of massive mountain stages that are yet to come in this Grand Tour. 

Romain Bardet managed to hold on to his first win in three years at the Vuelta a Burgos 2021 as well as taking the overall lead despite crashing on the descent of the final climb.

The Team DSM rider managed to distance Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), Domenico Pozzovivo (Qhubeka-NextHash) and Mikel Nieve (BikeExchange) on the climb of the Picón Blanco, which will be a summit finish at this year's Vuelta a España.

Bardet went solo over the top and went into his preferred terrain of the descent and managed to pull out his gap to the chasers who aren't as strong on the downhill. Fortunately for the Frenchman, he had enough gap to win by 39 seconds even after crashing.

It was his first win since he took the 2018 one-day race, Faun Environnement-Classic de l'Ardèche Rhône Crussol.

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Speaking after the stage, Bardet said: "We knew it was maybe the hardest climb of the week so we wanted to try something as a team,

"The guys put me in a really good position at the bottom of the climb and I really had good legs today. We came here for day results and the goal was to win a stage so we’ve done that."

The climb of the Picón Blanco will be the first summit finish at the Vuelta a España 2021 as it arrives on stage three with the 7.9km climb with an average gradient of 9.2 per cent

"I felt that I could jump and go on my own on the climb, as we knew I was good on the downhill. Then I got that stupid crash because I went a bit too fast around the corner but I managed to get back on my bike as soon as possible, and I made it to the finish. 

"It was a really nice climb, with some really steep roads but it was pretty tactical with the headwind so I decided to wait until the last moment to do my attack. We’ll take it day by day now. Tomorrow is a good opportunity for Alberto [Dainese] in the sprint and then we’ll see if we can defend the jersey on Saturday."

Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) finished 53 seconds down on his own after losing touch to the main group of GC riders in the final few 100 metres. British stars Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) and Hugh Carthy (EF-Nippo) both finished almost eight minutes down. 

The men’s French Olympic squad is facing a crisis, as both of their chosen leaders have announced they will not be competing in Tokyo this summer. 

Last month, reigning world champion Julian Alaphilippe announced that he would not be racing in the Olympic road race around Mount Fuji on July 24, despite being among the favourites to win gold on a tough climbing course.

The Deceuninck - Quick-Step leader said he has other goals towards the end of the season, while he is also due to become a father this year. 

Alaphilippe’s absence is a blow to French coach Thomas Voeckler, who was forced to choose another leader for the prestigious one-day race.

The first choice had been Grand Tour star Romain Bardet, who is racing his first season with Team DSM and finished seventh overall at the 2021 Giro d’Italia.

But the 30-year-old has now confirmed that he will not be racing in Tokyo, as he also wants to focus on goals later in the season.

Bardet told French newspaper L’Equipe: “After a three-way discussion with the team, Thomas, and myself, we decided that I will not participate in the Olympic Games this year.

"We have big goals with DSM that await us at the end of the season and it was not possible to have peak form in Tokyo with this program.” 

Bardet had originally based his 2021 season around the Olympics, as the 234km-long, 4,800m elevation game road race suited his characteristics.

He opted make his Giro d’Italia debut this season and skip the Tour de France, owing to the short time frame between the final stage of the Tour and the Olympics. 

But Bardet now plans to race the Vuelta a España, where he is likely to lead Team DSM once again.  

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Voeckler’s remaining still has the choice of a handful of star climbers for the men’s Olympic squad including Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic) among others.

The Tokyo Games, already postponed from 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, are still under threat of cancellation as public opposition to hosting the event mounts.     

Romain Bardet says that the war isn't over at the Giro d'Italia 2021 as he looks poised for an assault on the podium spots in the final week of the race.

Bardet (DSM) has been quietly putting in a very solid Giro and is now starting to make up some time against his other rivals in the high mountains, now sitting 1-22 off third-place Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo).

Frenchman Bardet managed second on stage 16 of the race after a daring descent saw him catch Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) before out-sprinting the Italian to the line just 27 seconds behind Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).

But he revealed after the finish he did not know that he had taken second on the stage.

Even after his formidable ride, Bardet is now sixth overall with five stages remaining, 5-02 behind maglia rosa Bernal. 

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Speaking in a rest day press conference, Bardet said: "I have put on some strong showings in the past few days, so for sure I can catch riders like Carthy, [Aleksandr] Vlasov or even Caruso. They are in a better position than me for the podium spots but the fight is not over.

"It could be a tight fight because I think there are six guys fighting for just two spots so who knows what can happen but as we saw yesterday [stage 16] the classification is not sealed yet, it should be interesting to see."

"We will just try and focus on ourselves, we will try to move up some spots in the GC, the war is far from over, anything can happen in the Giro but Bernal looks really solid and he has the best team around so it will be a big challenge for everyone, but there is some good racing still to happen."

The 30-year-old Team DSM rider is well known for being talented on the downhill of mountains, but he had over 20 seconds to close on Caruso over the top of the Passo Giau on stage 16 of the race, even so, he seemed unfazed: "I just gave my best in the last 4km of the climb when Bernal attacked and we were all one by one to reach the top.

"I caught him [Caruso] like in a kicker in the middle part of the descent, I didn't want to go down the descent too fast because it was very cold up there and the road was sliding a bit, but I was happy.

"I knew I could join him because I was like 20 seconds at the top and I could always see him just in front of me so I knew I could make it.

"My radio wasn't working in the last part of the stage for some reason so I didn't know if there were some guys in front of us aside from Bernal, but anyway, that doesn't change anything in the end."

Romain Bardet put in a superb display on stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia in horrendous conditions to move up to seventh in the overall standings, but says he didn't even realise he'd finished second to stage winner Egan Bernal

Bardet (DSM) held on with the race favourites up until the attack of the pink jersey Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) on the Passo Giau where he, along with all the other riders, were left riding in ones and twos behind the Colombian.

Over the top, Bardet managed to use his exceptional descending skills to catch up with the rider second on the road, Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) before working hard to drill it to the line where Bardet sprinted to second before getting a pat on the back from Caruso, who moves up to second in GC.

"I didn’t realise I was second," Bardet said after the stage, "I’m happy that we had a bit of success and a good finish today, it was nice. Since 2018 I haven’t had good feelings for the GC but the last climb has been really hard but I’m here now and I wanted to do the Giro. 

"Of course, trying to follow Bernal is difficult so I took my own pace. It was a hard pace and Bernal then went, I couldn’t follow, after a few metres I decided I was going to do my own pace. Of course, it’s another hard week coming and let’s hope it’s as good as today."

The race now is poised for a tight battle for the podium spots in the final week of the Giro d'Italia as the riders get a chance to rest tomorrow (May 25) on the second and final rest day of the race.

Twice a podium finisher at the Tour de France, Bardet now sits seventh, but just 1-22 behind Hugh Carthy (EF-Nippo) in third place overall. He is 5-02 down on Bernal.

Romain Bardet's life was not endangered despite riding on after suffering a concussion and a small haemorrhage when he crashed on stage 13 of the 2020 Tour de France, the race doctor has said.

Speaking on the morning that the Frenchman didn't start the race, Florence Pommerie says there were no immediate signs of the injuries Bardet had suffered and in this instance, the onus was on the team doctor to evaluate his condition.

"I do not think so, no," Pommerie replied to Ouest France's question of whether she and the medical team had endangered Bardet's life by letting him continue. "With no immediate signs...the body, sometimes, is a machine that gives us time before showing disturbing signs.

"Often the signs come after the race, and in this case, like Friday for Bardet, it's up to the team doctor to do what is necessary. In Bardet's case, it was upon arrival that he felt disoriented. And yes, that's pretty normal.

"The hematoma may very well be slight at first, there are no signs, and over time the hematoma grows larger and then the signs appear."

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Pommerie also points out that bike races, in their current structure, provide a uniquely difficult situation to treat and assess possible concussions.

"We are in a race, we are not in a rugby stadium, where there is the possibility of taking an athlete out to take the time to ask him a whole bunch of questions that would be in a form," Pommerie explained.

"The rider falls, we go to the crash if we can, sometimes we don't have time and the rider has already started again. This is often the case…then, of course, we will see him, we examine him as best we can during the race by asking him questions, by looking at what he has. But the rider is in his race, sometimes he is nervous, tense, and it often happens that a rider is a little "muddy" after a fall."

When Bardet went to see the medical car, Pommerie says he was clear-headed and only asked for painkillers so he could continue.

The 2019 polka dot jersey winner was fourth on GC before his crash, only 30 seconds down on race leader Primož Roglič.

Of the nine Grand Tours Bardet has contested during his career, the 2020 Tour de France will be the first one he hasn't finished.

Romain Bardet has given an update on his condition following his crash on stage 13 of the 2020 Tour de France, saying an MRI scan on Saturday morning showed a "small haemorrhage".

The French rider, who was well placed in fourth overall on GC heading into stage 13, crashed on a descent along with Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) with around 86km to go to the finish. Bardet was clearly affected by the crash, stumbling to his feet and looking dazed. He was able to remount his bike and went on to finish the stage, though lost 2-30 to race leader Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) on the summit finish.

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Bardet said he felt 'groggy' for the remainder of the stage and later that day was deemed to had suffered from concussion and would not continue the race on Saturday's stage 14.

The 29-year-old took to Instagram on Saturday afternoon to update on his condition, saying that he had been to hospital for an MRI scan earlier that day after suffering from headache and nausea since the end of Friday's stage. That scan revealed what he described as a "small haemorrhage", though didn't provide any further details. Bardet said he will now take an indefinite period off the bike while he recovers.

"I was far from imagining yesterday afternoon that under Vincent Lavenu's heartwarming words my Tour de France was going to end abruptly.

"Since then, headaches and nausea have not left me. The MRI performed this morning confirmed a small haemorrhage following the concussion. With rest for an indefinite period of time, I should quickly recover."

Bardet initially said he entered the Tour looking for stage wins, but looked to be in strong form as he fought for time amongst the GC contenders. His abandonment brings to an end his final Tour with Ag2r La Mondiale, who he's ridden with since he turned professional in 2012, as he moves to Team Sunweb for 2021.

Ag2r have already taken a stage victory at this year's Tour through Nans Peters on stage eight in the Pyrenees. They have los two riders in two days now however, with Pierre Latour quitting the race midway through stage 14.

Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) has abandoned the 2020 Tour de France after concussion suffered in a crash on stage 13. The Frenchman was able to finish the stage, losing 2-30 to race leader Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) but has since been declared unfit to race onwards.

Bardet was taken for a brain scan following the end of the stage, having crashed around 90km from the finish along with Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), with the latter forced to abandon with a broken wrist.

>>> Dani Martínez rides to victory on brutal Tour de France stage 13 as Roglič extends overall lead

A brain scan of Bardet after the stage finish showed no damage, but he will not start stage 14 on Saturday following the crash. The 29-year-old appeared to struggle to get to his feet in video footage of the crash from Friday's stage 13.

Bardet had come to the Tour with hopes of taking stage wins, but looked to be performing well on GC, holding fourth overall at 30 seconds heading into stage 13. He eventually sat in 11th place at three minutes following the stage into the Massif Central, but will now withdraw from the Tour de France before the start of Saturday's stage.

“This stage on my home roads was the complete opposite of what I had hoped for," Bardet said. "The crash was severe, downhill at high speed, and I struggled all the rest of the day.

"The medical examinations confirmed what I already suspected, and I am not able to continue in the race. I know that my team-mates will give their best to finish the Tour de France with strong performances."

"We are all sad to see Romain leaving us, near his home, on his roads, in a stage where he dreamed of shining," Ag2r team manager Vincent Lavenu said. "He once again showed admirable courage and fought like a lion to the end of the stage.

"We’ll fight even harder to honor him, with a polka-dot jersey to defend and stage wins to earn. We send him all our support and hope he will come back even stronger very soon."

Drama struck early on stage 13 of the Tour de France 2020 as yellow jersey contenders Nairo Quintana and Romain Bardet were caught in a crash, with Bauke Mollema also being forced to abandon.

The fall happened with around 90km of the tough climbing stage left to race when riders near the front of the bunch fell on a gentle left hand turn on the road to Puy Mary. 

It soon became clear that AG2R La Mondiale leader Bardet and Quintana (Arkea-Samsic), fourth and fifth on general classification, were involved in fall.

Trek-Segafredo’s Mollema was also involved in the crash, with reports suggesting he had pain in his right arm and shoulder and had a bloodied face. 

The fall resulted in Mollema abandoning the 2020 Tour, forcing him to give up his 13th place on general classification. 

Aerial footage of the crash shows a number of riders falling on the turn and riding into a ditch at the side of the road. 

Both Bardet and Quintana were quickly able to jump back on their bikes and were paced back into the peloton by their team-mates, but it’s not currently clear if they suffered any injuries. 

Trek-Segafredo said on Twitter: “Unfortunately Bauke Mollema was caught up in the last crash. 

"He has abandoned and we will report the extent of his injuries when we know more.”   

Mollema had been riding in support of his team leader Richie Porte but had still been riding well overall himself, sitting 2-31 off the race lead on the start of stage 13 and around 50 seconds away from the top-10. 

>>> Strava stats show how tough stage 13 of the Tour de France is likely to be  

The Dutchman has been a Grand Tour contender himself in the past, finishing third in the 2011 Vuelta a España. He also has three top-10 finishes in the Tour de France, including a sixth-place finish in 2013. 

The Tour de France peloton returned to the legendary Orcières-Merlette climb for the first time since 1989.

With the likes of Egan Bernal and Primož Roglič in the peloton, we were almost guaranteed to see some rapid times up the 7.1km-long, 6.7 per cent climb. 

The last time the ascent featured in the Tour, it was Dutchman Steven Rooks who victory at the summit after a 39km time trial from Gap, while Greg Lemond moved into the race lead. 

But the most famous race on this climb was back in 1971, when Luis Ocaña put Eddy Merckx to the sword with a 177km-long attack which saw him finish more than eight minutes up on the Belgian cycling legend and take the yellow jersey.   

In recent times Orcières-Merlette hasn’t featured in any many races, with the Strava record being held by AG2R La Mondiale rider Clément Chevrier, who set the KoM time on the segment during a training ride in 2013.

But unsurprisingly that record has now fallen, as the best climbers in the world hit the ramps during the first mountain finish of the 2020 Tour de France on stage four.  

Primoz Roglic took the stage victory, but did not post his data on Strava after the race.

The previous time set by Chevrier was 19-56, but the Frenchman has now been bumped down to 20th place on the Strava segment. 

His team-mate Romain Bardet now tops the leaderboard with a time of 16-50 and an average speed of 26.4km/h, followed by Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) in second place, just one second off the pace. Rigoberto Urán (EF Pro Cycling) matched Pinot’s time. 

Bardet actually finished 16th on the stage, while Pinot finished further up in eighth. Urán actually 15th in the official rankings.  

None of the top four riders on Strava shared their power data, but luckily some of those further down in the rankings did. 

Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), who finished 17th on the stage and set the fifth fastest time on Strava, held an average power of 357 watts (6.05 watts per kilogram) for his 16.56 effort on the climb. 

Jumbo-Visma’s Sepp Kuss, who put in a phenomenal ride to support Roglič to the victory, set the sixth fastest Strava time and was 19th on the stage.

The American pushed an enormous 382w for 16-57, which for a 61kg rider equates to 6.2 w/kg.

>>> Tiesj Benoot snaps bike in half due to ‘really stupid crash’ on stage four of the Tour de France

It was actually Sunweb’s Nicolas Roche who put out the highest power on Strava, as the Irishman held 411w for 17-1 to finish 22nd on the stage.   

Romain Bardet will officially be joining Sunweb in 2021, the team have confirmed in a slightly unusual announcement.

The French Grand Tour star was rumoured to be on the move at the end of the season, with Germain WorldTour squad Sunweb the front-runner to sign Bardet.

But the transfer is now official, as Sunweb announced on Twitter on Monday morning (August 10).

The team posted a video a parody video of their riders’ Whatsapp group chat, in which Nicolas Roche adds Bardet to the conversation.

Bardet has joined Sunweb on a two-year contract started from January 2021, as he continues to chase the elusive Tour de France yellow jersey after multiple podium finishes.

Bardet said: “When considering options outside my current team, it was really important for me to find a team that works progressively, involving the latest technology in equipment and other domains. I also wanted a team with a clear vision on the sport and one that is a member of MPCC [The Movement for Credible Cycling].

“At Team Sunweb I have the opportunity to start with no specific expectations or a specific race to target. Instead we will focus first on the basics and the fundamentals, working hard and with dedication to improve on all different areas as an athlete – after this we will look to race schedules and goals.”

The 29-year-old has come close to Tour victory on multiple occasions but has not quite reached his goal of becoming the first Frenchman to win the yellow jersey since Bernard Hinault in 1985.

Bardet has ridden with French WorldTour squad Ag2r La Mondiale since 2012, having come through the team’s development programme.

Having ridden the Tour on seven occasions, he has taken two podiums and another three top-10s. He has never finished outside the top 15.

Bardet’s closes attempt at winning the yellow jersey came in 2016 when he finished second behind Chris Froome, 4-05 down on the four-time winner.

Sunweb has been on the hunt for a new star rider in Grand Tours after Tom Dumoulin departed for Jumbo-Visma at the end of last season.

General manager at Sunweb Iwan Spekenbrink said: “We are very excited that Romain joins the team. He is a great rider who brings many possibilities, versatile qualities and a very respective palmarès. Our talks together have shown that he is very dedicated to give it his all and get the most out of his potential, and he is eager for our specialists to work with him to focus on improvements so that he can reach that.

“He will be a great addition for the team in a multitude of races; with him we strengthen our block of current options in the finales and tactically have multiple scenarios to try to win. It will be hard work, with some classics in the first part of the season and then we’ll assess and plan the next block, including deciding which grand tour to tackle, with which goals.”

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Bardet added: “This opportunity comes at the right moment in my career and I am very motivated to start working with the team and its group of very promising riders. I want to express my thanks to my current team AG2R La Mondiale, who helped me to develop until now, my time with them will always have a special place in my memories.”

Romain Bardet suffered a heavy crash on stage one of the recent Route d'Occitanie and has been forced to pull out of Thursday's Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge due to injury to his elbow.

The climbing specialist was using the race as a warm up towards the Tour de France, but will now resume racing at the Critérium du Dauphiné next Wednesday with bruising to his elbow.

In an interview with L'Equipe on Wednesday he said: "My race stopped on the first day."

"I've just been surviving since then, and don't even know whether I'm going to be able to continue racing, as I'm in so much pain.

"I'm going to have some X-rays tomorrow, and just try to look after myself.

"The Tour is still a few weeks away, but I don't want to risk causing any further damage before my big goals."

>>> Watch: Chris Froome responds to French fans booing at La Route d’Occitanie

The winner of the king of the mountains at the Tour de France has since confirmed he will not take the start of the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge, where he finished second last year, so he can rest and recover.

The main issue is with his left side, especially his arm as he is complaining about pulling on the handlebars, especially when climbing.

In a statement, his Ag2r La Mondiale team said: "Suffering from bruises to his left elbow following his fall during the second stage of the Route d'Occitanie, Romain Bardet will not take part in the CIC Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge tomorrow. He will not be replaced. He will be at the start of the Critérium du Dauphiné."

The French rider did manage eighth place on the summit finish at the Route d'Occitanie where he crossed the line at a very respectable 1-18 down on the fully fit Egan Bernal, who went on to win the overall.

Bardet was originally down to race the Giro d'Italia before the pandemic, but has now turned his attentions back to his home Grand Tour, with the Giro taking on three time trials, and a chance to redeem himself after what was a disappointing race for him last year.

Romain Bardet could be the next major Grand Tour star to change teams at the end of the season.

The Tour de France hopeful is expected to leave Ag2r La Mondiale, having spent his entire career with the French WorldTour squad, according to L’Equipe.

Bardet, 29, is has come close to Tour victory on multiple occasions but has not quite reached his goal of becoming the first Frenchman to win the yellow jersey since Bernard Hinault in 1985.

According to French media, Ag2r boss Vincent Lavenu plans to redesign his team around new leaders as Pierre Latour, tipped as another potential Tour winner in future, is also expected to leave the team.

Lavenu told L’Equipe: “I'm not scared of what's going to happen, if one rider or another was to leave. We're looking after the future of the team. We have a project, and big ambitions.”

Bardet has been closely linked with Sunweb, as the German-registered team tries to rebuild its Grand Tour roster after the departure of Tom Dumoulin.

Latour is rumoured to be stepping down a level to join Total Direct Energie.

With Chris Froome leaving Team Ineos after a decade, Bardet would be another huge star changing teams in pursuit of Tour victory.

Bardet has ridden with Ag2r since 2012, having come through the team’s development programme.

Having ridden the Tour on seven occasions, he has taken two podiums and another three top-10s. He has never finished outside the top 15.

Bardet’s closes attempt at winning the yellow jersey came in 2016 when he finished second behind Froome, 4-05 down on the four-time winner.

He followed up in 2017 with a third-place finish, 2-20 down to Froome again.

Froome will also be on the move as he looks for a secure leadership spot at the Tour de France with Israel Start-Up Nation.

The Brit has been with Team Ineos, formerly Team Sky, since the British WorldTour team was founded in 2010.

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But as Team Ineos principal Sir Dave Brailsford banks on 2019 Tour winner Egan Bernal for the future, Froome is leaving the team to chase a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey.

The unique Mont Ventoux one-day race returns for 2020, with star riders Romain Bardet, Richie Porte and Fabio Aru among the starters.

CIC-Mont Ventoux Denivele Challenges is now in its second year, with its finish atop one of cycling’s most iconic climbs.

Last season, Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) and Bardet  (Ag2r La Mondiale) went head to head on the slopes of Ventoux as the race landed in the cycling calendar with a bang.

But after Herrada took the victory by just nine seconds over the Frenchman, both riders will return for the 2020 edition, scheduled to run on Thursday, August 6.

Race director Nicolas Garcera said: “This second edition of the CIC-Mont Ventoux Denivele Challenges comes with an exciting announcement.

“We are very happy and very proud to bring together such a beautiful start list just a few days after the season resumes.

“Some of the best climbers in the world will be there, among them the title holder and the second place finisher in the 2019 edition.”

The second edition of the race features as twist, as the peloton will ascent Mont Ventoux twice before the finish.

Riders will travel to the lower point of Chalet Reynard mid-way through the race, before heading to the classic summit after 182km of racing.

Starting from Vaison-la-Romaine, the racer heads over the Cold de Dontaube and Sault before the peloton hits the Bédoin ascent of Ventoux twice.

Mont Ventoux, which has featured in the Tour de France 16 times, is steeped in cycling history, both glorious and tragic.

In 1967, Brit Tom Simpson died on the slopes of the 21km climb.

The climb first featured in the Tour in 1951, but not as a summit finish.

A Ventoux finish line first appeared in 1958, with an individual time trial from Bédoin to the top won by Charly Gaul.

There have been 10 summit finishes atop Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France’s history.

At 8.7%, it is a brutal finale to the one-day race.

Other riders lining up include Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Miguel Ángel López (Astana).

Garcera added: “With the two climbs of Mont Ventoux on the program, all the ingredients are there to witness a magnificent fight in the largest of settings. "

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So far 18 teams have confirmed their participation in the event, including Ag2r La Mondiale, Astana, Groupama-FDJ, Cofidis, UAE Team Emirates and Trek-Segafredo.

Romain Bardet has been offered a contract with Team Sunweb for the 2021 season, the German team looking to make the Frenchman one of their team leaders.

As one of their climbing talents in Sam Oomen is said to be looking towards the exit door at the end of the year, Sunweb are looking to replenish their ranks, and Bardet is apparently looking for a change of scenery, having been with Ag2r La Mondiale since the start of his professional career in 2012.

"When the season starts again, talk about new riders for 2021 will start," Sunweb manager Iwan Spekenbrink said earlier in the week, before the signing of 17-year-old prodigy Marco Brenner was announced.

A number of notable riders are out of contract at the end of this irregular season, most notably Chris Froome, who has been the subject of transfer rumours since disquiet amongst Ineos' Tour de France line-up leaked out of the four-time winner's camp.

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Trek-Segafredo and Mitchelton-Scott are also said to be interested in Bardet, and while the 29-year-old's agent Joona Laukka says his destination is currently unknown an onus will be put on signing with a team who are strongly against doping.

"Nothing has been finalised, not with Sunweb or with other teams," Laukka told De Telegraaf. "It is quite easy to write down the names of teams where he could go. 

"Those are teams with a strong ethic (against doping), even though you can never be 100 per cent sure of all riders."

Sunweb have struggled with retaining climbing talent in recent years, with Warren Barguil leaving at the end of the 2017 season while Tom Dumoulin made the switch to Jumbo-Visma during 2019 as the Dutchman was recovering from injury.

In an attempt to revitalise his career, having so far failed to take the next step up to claiming the yellow jersey following consecutive Tour de France podium placings in 2016 and 2017, Bardet had intended to skip the French Grand Tour in 2020 and ride the Giro d'Italia instead.

However, the revised WorldTour calendar means he will likely return to the Tour de France for the eighth time in his career, having won the polka dot jersey in last year's edition.

French climber Romain Bardet has said that he hopes the 2020 Tour de France does happen, in an interview with L'Equipe, saying it would be a "great sign" if it goes ahead.

The AG2R La Mondiale rider's season has now been turned upside down due to the coronavirus. He was set to ride the Giro d'Italia and then aim for Olympic success in Japan, but both have since been postponed.

But he is keeping his options open and remaining optimistic for a possible Tour in July if France is able to get the virus under control.

Bardet said: “It seems to me that it might be less utopian, if the pandemic has been controlled by then in France, to organise the Tour de France.

>>> Olympic champion Greg Van Avermaet says suspending 2020 Games was 'only possible option'

“We're all going through difficult times, but it would be a great sign if the Tour could be held in July. It would mean that the health situation had improved, and that we were on the right track… But it's probably too early to say whether that's possible.”

Winner of last year's king of the mountains jersey after an abysmal start to the Tour, Bardet was going to ride the Giro with the same idea as Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) did in 2018; taking the huge pressure off his shoulders for his home race later in the year.

AG2R's star rider went on to speak about the Olympics year postponement, as it was a key target in his year with the course around Mount Fuji suiting climbers.

Bardet says that the decision was "reasonable and logical" to postpone and that he is now just "thinking beyond sport." as Covid-19 plunges much of the world into lockdown.

"I didn't know how anyone was going to be able to take part in the Olympics while there was still so much uncertainty and the world was in the state it's in," Bardet continued.

"It would be selfish of me to only be concerned by the sporting aspect of everything that's happening."

With the season completely up in the air now, Bardet is now just focusing on normal life away from sport.

He said: “I've lost the thread of my season a little, especially as we don't know when we're going to race again. Everyone's thinking beyond sport now."

Romain Bardet has said he doesn't understand why Paris-Nice is continuing amid the coronavirus outbreak that has seen a number of sporting events cancelled and European governments begin to ban large public gatherings.

"When nothing really makes sense anymore, you might as well get caught up in the ambient madness and do the things you like to do," Bardet told French media after the finish of stage six.

"I didn't understand why the race went on today. We seem out of place on a bike when everyone is making efforts to stem the spread of the virus."

Stage six started with over 100 riders in the peloton despite a ban put in place by the French government the night before on gatherings containing over 100 people. Bahrain-McLaren had pulled out of the race before the start of the day while Israel Start-Up Nation announced mid-stage they would not be signing on for stage seven.

>>> ‘The rule is bent in most races’: Should Warren Barguil have been disqualified from Paris-Nice?

"I deplore the lack of unity in the peloton: some are gone, others are not, we'll end up being maybe 30 riders," said Bardet, with a total of 13 riders not starting stage six and a further 11 not finishing the day of racing. The French Cycling Federation then suspended all racing indefinitely yet Paris-Nice's final stage seven would continue, with the original planned stage eight called off.

"What's the sense of it all, especially towards the rest of the population? We do our little race as if nothing is happening. It's all very strange. Nothing surprises me in 2020. I'm especially worried about the general health situation," Bardet said.

Richie Porte agreed with the Frenchman's sentiment, telling ITV: "The general consensus among riders is what he said. He's a big man to stand up and say exactly what he wants and it will be a nice race to get finished.

"I haven't had the best Paris-Nice, I'll be the first one to admit that. It's been a funny one, mentally, here. I've got a pregnant wife at home, a baby, and no-one really knows if we should be here or not."

The future remains uncertain, which Bardet says is the biggest cause of concern to people, not just bike races, but that maybe it will be possible to draw up a new race calendar soon.

"Maybe in a few days we will be able to draw up a new calendar, but we don't yet know how the pandemic will evolve and we could still have to do a lot to fight it in the coming weeks. That's what worries me, the idea that the worst is certainly still to come. Should I ride the Tour? I can’t say that, who knows."

Romain Bardet says hopes the Tour Down Under will draw even more attention to the devastation caused by wildfires in Australia in recent months.

The French Grand Tour star has visited areas around Adelaide that have been deeply impacted by the environmental disaster that has swept across the nation.

Fires across Australia have resulted in the deaths of 28 people, including four firefighters, and 100,000 square kilometres are burning, with an enormous number of animals being killed in the blazes too.

Bardet will be making his debut in the Tour Down Under next week, as he has switched up his schedule for 2020 to reinvigorate his Grand Tour ambitions.

The 29-year-old said: “I’m happy to discover the Santos Tour Down Under, which is a popular event that is eagerly awaited here despite the environmental disaster that is affecting Australia today. I hope that the race will be in an additional lever in the solidarity movement emerging all around the globe to help the regions stricken by fire.”

Bardet has been out in Australia since December 28 with his team-mates Clément Chevrier, Axel Domont and Larry Warbasse, giving them the chance to acclimatise to summer conditions and the searing heatwaves Down Under.

Huge swathes of Australia have been ravaged by the fires, the worst seen in decades, since late July.

Minor road repairs were needed to ensure the Tour Down Under, which is based around Adelaide, could go ahead unhindered on January 21.

The organisers say they have been working with local authorities to ensure the race could be held safely.

Bardet will be riding the Tour Down Under for the first this year, having not raced since the final day of the Tour de France last July.

He has also changed up his off-season training, riding on the track and racing cyclocross having struggled to reach former heights in the Grand Tours in recent seasons.

Bardet will be skipping the Tour de France in favour of a Giro d’Italia debut this year.

>>> Specialized raises wildlife relief funds alongside Tour Down Under range 

He said: “I haven’t taken part in a race since July 28th when the Tour de France finished on the Champs Elysées. So I am particularly impatient to pin on the new bib number that will launch me into the 2020 season. I have been preparing for many months for this, and have mixed it up a bit by riding track and doing some cyclocross, which has helped in getting me out of my traditional winter pattern.

“On the sporting side, I have never before returned to racing so early in the year, but I think that these are the ideal conditions for a calm start to a great 2020 season, progressing day by day on short but hilly stages.”

Romain Bardet has opted to ride the Giro d'Italia for the first time in 2020 and will miss the Tour de France.

The Frenchman has ridden the Tour every year since 2013, with second and third place overall finishes in 2016 and 2017 respectively, taking three stage wins along the way as well. He'll now break that consecutive run with his first attempt at the Giro d'Italia, his first target of the year before the Tokyo Olympic road race in July and the World Championships road race in Switzerland in September.

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Bardet had a difficult time at this year's Tour, struggling early on to match the other GC contenders. Despite winning the king of the mountains competition, the 29-year-old appeared well below his best as he finished in 15th place overall at over 30 minutes down. He subsequently ended his season following the Tour saying he needed time to "mentally and physically regenerate" ahead of 2020.

On paper the Giro route, with it's long and high mountain stages in the final week, looks potentially good for Bardet despite three individual time trials. The Tour this year takes on an unconventional route that carries a huge amount of climbing throughout, with several extremely unpredictable looking stages.

The Tour also finishes just a week before the Olympics road race, making it difficult for those riders aiming to win both the yellow jersey and the gold medal. Both the Olympics and the Worlds road races suit climbers this year.

Bardet said his choice to skip the Tour was a chance to "open new horizons," indicating he would return to the Tour in 2021.

"I have never hidden my desire to participate in the Giro d'Italia in my best condition, with the desire to shine," Bardet said.

"It's time to open new horizons, and dividing up the season with these three major objectives is exciting.

"It was not easy to give up the Tour de France, which has brought me so much, and which is a race I love deeply. But it seemed like a good time to open a parenthesis to the beautiful story that connects me to this race, with the intention of coming back even better next year."

The Giro d'Italia 2020 takes place from May 9 to May 31, with the likes of two-time winner Vincenzo Nibali already confirming his intention to ride. The Olympic road race takes place on July 25 and the Worlds road race on September 27.

Despite picking up the polka dot jersey at the Tour de France, becoming the third Frenchman to do it in as many years, Romain Bardet stepped off the podium and told his Ag2r La Mondiale team bosses he was contemplating quitting racing.

The 28-year-old has already announced the premature end of his season, saying he needs to refocus for 2020 after what he has described as a disappointing season, having finished in 15th place and more than 30 minutes down on Egan Bernal (Ineos) at the Tour de France, the race he based his year around attempting to win.

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Bardet said he needs to "mentally and physically regenerate" ahead of mounting another attempt to win the French Grand Tour, having come closest in 2016 when he finished second behind Chris Froome (Ineos).

According to L'Équipe, Bardet was so dispirited by his performance at the Tour, despite taking the polka dot jersey thanks to his exploits on the Galibier stage, he told Ag2r La Mondiale boss Vincent Lavenu he was thinking about quitting racing once his contract with the French team expired at the end of the 2020 season.

The pressure placed on French riders at their home Grand Tour, the biggest race on the calendar, is immense. While their usual great hope Bardet faltered, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) for 14 days, capturing the hearts and minds of the nation, while Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) mounted a valiant assault on the GC until he was forced to withdraw through injury on the penultimate mountain stage.

However, Bardet says his plans for 2020 are already looking "exciting", as he takes the autumn off to fully recharge. "The schedule I want to race requires freshness in all areas. I will take advantage of the next few weeks to rest, while continuing to plan for the 2020 season, which is already looking very exciting," he said.

Ag2r La Mondiale have announced their squad for the upcoming Vuelta a España, with Pierre Latour, Silvan Dillier, Clément Chevrier, Clément Venturini, Geoffrey Bouchard, François Bidard, Dorian Godon, and Quentin Jauregui lining up for the French outfit.

Romain Bardet has brought his 2019 season to a close, saying he needs to "regenerate" to come back stronger in 2020 following what he describes as a disappointing season.

The Ag2r La Mondiale based his season around the Tour de France yet failed to match up to his GC competitors, often being one of the first climbers to be dropped.

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Despite a second place finish on the Galibier stage helping him claim the King of the Mountains jersey, ensuring he did end up on the podium in Paris, Bardet sunk to 15th in the overall classification, half an hour down on victor Egan Bernal (Ineos).

"Despite the joy of winning the polka-dot jersey as the best climber of the Tour de France, the 2019 season did not satisfy the goals I set myself," Bardet said.

In previous years Bardet has followed riding the Tour de France with races such as the Vuelta a España, Il Lombardia or the Deutschland Tour. However, this year the Frenchman and his team have decided it's better for him to rest so he can come back stronger next season.

"After a few days of personal reflection and exchanges with management from the Ag2r La Mondiale team, it became clear to me that I needed to regenerate myself physically and mentally to come back stronger next season," Bardet said.

"The schedule I want to race requires freshness in all areas. I will take advantage of the next few weeks to rest, while continuing to plan for the 2020 season, which is already looking very exciting."

The polka-dot jersey at the Tour was a saving grace for Ag2r La Mondiale, who put their weight once again behind Bardet, with his previous best result coming in 2016 when he finished runner -up behind Chris Froome (Ineos).

Vicent Lavenu, the Ag2r La Mondiale team manager, sung his rider's praises, saying he had "fully assumed his role as leader".

"Romain Bardet has been the cornerstone of the team for a number of seasons, and he puts his energy and determination into practice: winning the polka-dot jersey, obtained with conviction and with the support of the team in a sometimes difficult sporting context. This once again emphasises all of his qualities as a sportsman and a man, he has thus fully assumed his role as leader," Lavenu said.

"He carefully analysed his season with the sports and medical directors and it became clear that it was necessary for Romain to put an end to his season.

"This is a thoughtful and constructive decision that will allow us to define with him the profile of the 2020 season and its objectives which will, as always, be high. "

Bardet will therefore not travel to Yorkshire for the Worlds in September despite finishing second behind Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) at last year's race in Innsbruck.

As Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck -Quick-Step) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) captured French hearts and minds at this year's Tour de France, Romain Bardet was soon a forgotten man as the Ag2r La Mondiale rider slipped down the overall classification and out of contention.

However, as Pinot abandoned the race on stage 19 through injury and Alaphilippe faltered as the race reached the high altitude climbs, Bardet secured a consolation prize, becoming the third consecutive French polka dot jersey victor, following Warren Barguil (Arkéa-Samsic) in 2017 and Alaphilippe last year.

>>> Egan Bernal proud to make history as first Colombian winner of Tour de France

"I dreamt of winning the polka dot jersey when I was young," Bardet said after the finish in Val Thorens.

Finding himself more than 27 minutes down in 21st place heading into the Alps, Bardet hit out at the start of stage 18, getting himself in a talented breakaway of strong climbers.

Despite Nairo Quintana (Movistar) taking the victory ahead of the Frenchman, Bardet's second place at the summits of the Col de Vars, Izoard and Galibier, picking up a total of 68 King of the Mountains points to propel him to the top of the polka dot jersey rankings.

He took a 12 point lead over Tim Wellens (Lotto-Soudal), the custodian of the jersey for most of this year's race, into the final two Alpine days. With a summit finish to Tignes cancelled on stage 19 and two categorised climbs taken out of stage 20 to Val Thorens, it appeared Bardet had picked his moment well as the chances for anyone to overhaul him started to disappear.

After Egan Bernal (Ineos) and Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) had moved to within 30 points with their first and second-placed finishes on the Iseran, it looked like Bardet's lead could be over as he dropped from the GC group fairly early on the final climb of this year's race, with 40 points available at the summit of Val Thorens.

However, Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) survived from the breakaway to take the stage 20 victory and the Movistar pair of Alejandro Valverde and Mikel Landa were allowed to move away to pick up first and second, meaning when Bernal crossed the line in fourth to secure the yellow jersey, he would only pick up 20 KoM points.

"In 2015, I missed out on the last mountain stage," Bardet said, referencing when he failed to protect his slender lead in the King of the Mountains classification as Quintana and Chris Froome (Ineos) finished in the top five to overtake him on the stage 20 summit finish up Alpe d'Huez.

"It’s a nice satisfaction for me this time. It’s going to be my fifth time on stage on the Champs-Elysées for a different award in seven participations."

After his failed assault on the 2019 general classification where the Frenchman has ultimately fallen well short of the mark, he may consider changin focus to stage wins or the polka dot jersey at future Tours.

"It’s good to reinvent oneself. Things haven’t gone according to my expectations at this Tour but I’ll enjoy this trophy before thinking about what has not worked," Bardet said.

"We’re allowed to fail but we’re not allowed to not try and give it all."

The 2019 Tour de France is still balanced on a knife edge with just two more mountain stages left before Paris.

Stage 18 to Valloire included some of the most daunting climbs in the Tour, the Col d’Izoard which then ran into the Col du Galibier, before a long descent to the line.

Movistar’s Nairo Quintana returned to his best with a huge attack 7km from the summit of the final climb, riding away from Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) to take stage glory.

>>> Romain Bardet says ‘polka dot jersey is now only goal for Tour de France’ after disastrous GC bid

But how tough was the 208km stage? Strava stats give us an insight into the demands of a key mountain stage.

Stage winner Nairo Quintana doesn’t use the social media for athletes so we can’t see what it takes to win the stage, but runner-up Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) does share his ride data.

Bardet spent 5-35-58 in the saddle, covering 4,543 metres of altitude gain, with an average speed of 36.6km/h.

The penultimate climb of the day was the 14.1km-long Col d’Izoard, which averages 7.3 per cent.

Frenchman Bardet averaged 19.4km/h on the climb, hitting a maximum speed of 66.2km/h and reached the summit in 42-39.

His pace was only fast enough for the ninth fastest ride on the Stava segment this year.

The fastest rider over the climb was Sébastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ), in 40-18 with an average speed of 20.5km/h.

Bardet’s compatriot Warren Barguil holds the Stava KoM for the Izoard, setting a time of 37-35 on his way to a summit stage victory in the 2017 Tour de France.

The day’s final climb was the Col du Galibier, with the peloton riding up the longer but shallower side, at 23km and 5.1 per cent average.

Bardet rode up the Galibier at an average of 25km/h, with a time of 50-02, good enough for fight on the segment.

>>> Live and direct – how data could change the Tour

Overall favourites Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) set a new KoM on the 20km Galibier segment, with a time of 48-54 and an average speed of 25.6km/h.

The descent from the Galibier into Valloire was another key moment on the stage, with Riche Porte (Trek-Segafredo) the fastest downhill, covering the 16.83km segment in 16-06, with an average speed of 62km/h.

Romain Bardet says defending his lead in the climber’s classification is his only remaining goal of the Tour de France 2019.

The French hope has suffered a disastrous attempt at winning the overall, cracking early on the Tourmalet stage and losing 20 minutes by the line.

Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) had an opportunity to redeem the Tour with a stage win on stage 18 over the Galibier, making the day’s breakaway but not being able to catch the victor Nairo Quintana (Movistar) on the final climb.

>>> Egan Bernal: Geraint Thomas told me to attack on the Galibier

But the 28-year-old did leapfrog 10 places to the top of the King of the Mountain classification, usurping Lotto-Soudal’s Tim Wellens.

The runner up in the 2016 Tour de France said: “I didn’t get what I wanted in the Pyrenees. There’s still some way to go but today my goal was to make the breakaway.

“Tim Wellens is someone I appreciate. I spoke with him before the climbs and we made clear that it would be a fair fight between us.

“The jersey is the only goal I have for the remainder of this Tour.”

Bardet started the Tour as one of two great French hopes for the overall, along with Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ).

His Ag2r team lost more than a minute on the stage two team time trial and Bardet then struggled on La Planche des Belles Filles and lost almost three minutes, all-but taking him out of the fight for the overall.

After a characteristically poor time trial on stage 13, things went from bad to worse when the race reached the Pyrenees as Bardet cracked more than 60km from the finish on the following day, with Pinot riding to an emphatic victory 20 minutes before his compatriot crossed the line.

Bardet has said he will undergo medical exams after the Tour, as he can’t explain why his form is so low.

>>> Julian Alaphilippe: I had to take risks on the Galibier descent 

He returned to some semblance of his former self on stage 18 to Valloire, but no one was able to match the explosive attack of Nairo Quintana 7km from the summit of the Galibier, and Bardet was forced to settle for second on the stage.

With two mountain stages remaining, Bardet’s opportunities for a stage win are rapidly fading and the polka dot jersey could be the only consolation prize after a disappointing Tour for his team.

Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) ended Tour de France stage nine in Brioude with applause from his family and hope for the weeks to come.

Racing on Bastille Day to his hometown, Bardet attacked to try to turn around his Tour after a tough first week. He sits 2-27 minutes down from virtual classification leader Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ).

"I wanted to at least to give it a try and see what would happen," Bardet said.

"But you know, it's complicated the Tour de France."

>>> Five talking points from stage nine of the Tour de France 2019

Bardet placed second overall behind Chris Froome (Team Ineos) in 2016 and over the years has won three stages.

The complications began in the Tour de France 2019 with the stage two team time trial and continued on stage six to La Planche des Belles Filles.

His French Ag2r La Mondiale team lost 32 seconds to Steven Kruijswijk and Jumbo-Visma in the team time trial and 12 seconds to Geraint Thomas and Ineos. It was a relatively good day considering he is not a strong time trial rider.

In the first summit finish, however, he was one of the casualties while France's other big hope Thibaut Pinot fired strongly. Bardet lost over a minute to Geraint Thomas and slid down the overall classification.

Thankfully for Bardet, the final half of the Tour de France weighs heavily with mountains – more so than in recent years with only a 27.2km time trial in stage 13 to attempt to balance the course.

"I approach [the next two weeks] with big motivation because the start wasn't easy for us," he said.

"We don't want to continue racing this way. We want to just go on the attack and take every opportunity on the road."

Bardet went on the attack on the roads he grew up on. Ahead, Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) won from an escape. Behind, with just under eight kilometres to race, Bardet accelerated on the Côte de Saint-Just.

>>> We spoke to the person who took ‘that’ picture of Geraint Thomas’ Tour de France crash

Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) marked him immediately. They gained some time, but Team Ineos quickly shut it down. Kruijswijk tried too, but nothing worked. The climbers will have to wait for the mountain stages in the final two weeks.

Bardet kissed his waiting family members at the bus, where he was greeted by more fans than stage winner Impey.

Ahead for Bardet: one more flat stage, a rest day, then the next two chapters of the Tour.

Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) has blamed a "leg problem" on his poor showing on the Tour de France 2019's first summit finish, La Planche des Belles Filles.

The Frenchman lost more than a minute to Geraint Thomas (Ineos), the highest-placed GC contender, finishing 2-53 back on stage winner Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida).

>>> Double difficulty: Can Geraint Thomas buck the trend to win back to back Tours?

With his Ag2r La Mondiale team also losing over a minute in the team time trial on stage two, Bardet has seen his GC ambitions severely dented, if not lying in ruins, after less than a week of racing.

Speaking after stage six, where he had a mechanical as he crossed the finish line to add insult to injury, Bardet explained what went wrong: "I had a leg problem. I was not at the level today. I make it hard and bitter. I will try to understand what happened. I remain very motivated for this Tour.

"There are plenty of things to do. But first I have to understand  what happened and why I couldn't keep up in the last kilometre."

The 28-year-old is yet to elaborate on the specifics of this leg problem, and will face the longest stage of this year's race, the 230km stage seven, the day after climbing La Planche des Belles Filles.

However, he has described feeling "shame" at letting his team-mates down, telling Le Parisien this was because he "was not at the level when everyone had worked so hard. I feel like I have been a spectator and have shown only that. The words are strong but I am very dissatisfied with myself."

Bardet is one of two Frenchman who carry the hopes of their nation at their home Grand Tour. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) put in a strong performance, living up to pre-race expectation of his form and finishing fifth on stage six, just two seconds behind Thomas.

Meanwhile, the French yellow jersey holder Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) lost the race lead to Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) despite a spirited fightback on La Planche des Belles Filles, finishing ahead of many pure climbers.

Ciccone's total of 14 bonus seconds, six from finishing second on the stage and eight from being the second rider to reach the summit of the Col des Chevrères, gave him enough time to overhaul Alaphilippe's lead, the Italian currently ahead of the Frenchman by just six seconds.

Ag2r La Mondiale have announced their squad for the upcoming Tour de France, where they will be looking to help Romain Bardet deliver France's first victory in their home Grand Tour since Bernhard Hinault in 1985.

The Frenchman has finished on the podium twice in his career, coming second to Chris Froome in 2016 and third the following year.

>>> Tom Dumoulin says pulling out of Tour de France 2019 ‘felt like a relief’

Preparing for this year's edition, Bardet rode to a top 10 finish at the 2019 Criterium du Dauphiné, before racing again the very next day in the new Mont Ventoux one-day race.

Despite being heavy favourite and setting out to dominate the race as part of one of only four WorldTour teams competing, Jesús Herrada made light work of the Frenchman to take the win. The Spaniard came to the race with fresh legs, which undoubtedly helped him to climb past Bardet in the final few hundred metres after the pair broke away from the pack near the bottom of the climb.

However, Bardet has been given a boost to his Tour de France ambitions with Chris Froome (Ineos) and Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) not travelling to Brussels for the Grand Départ on July 6.

Froome is still not well enough to return home from a horrific crash that saw him placed in intensive care at the Critérium du Dauphiné, while Dumoulin is still struggling with a knee injury that he picked up in a crash at the same race.

Meanwhile, last year's fourth-placed rider Primož Roglič will not be taking part after Jumbo-Visma chose Steven Kruijswijk as team leader, and Geraint Thomas' (Ineos) defence of his title has been under the microscope by a crash that saw him abandon the Tour de Suisse.

Bardet is also set to miss next week's French national championships as he continues to prepare for the Tour, a decision that has also been made by his compatriot Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick Step).

One of Bardet's strongest domestiques will be Tony Gallopin, who will be riding his ninth Tour de France, the Frenchman's second with Ag2r after joining at the start of the 2018 season.

Pierre Latour, whose name is nearly the most perfect example of nominative determinism in the professional peloton, finished 13th last year and took the white jersey of the young rider's classification. The 25-year-old will be looking to improve on that result this year and will assist Bardet in the mountains.

Oliver Naesen will provide power on the flats, the Belgian coming close to his first Monument win in March with a second place at Milan - San Remo behind Julian Alaphilippe.

The rest of the eight-man squad will be made up of Mikaël Cherel, Benoît Cosnefroy, and Mathias Frank, with the final name set to be announced after the French national championships, which take place on June 30.

Multiple Tour de France stage winner Thomas Voeckler said earlier this year "if you don't believe Bardet or Thibaut Pinot can win the Tour de France, you don't believe in anything", adding that this year's parcours particularly suit the two Frenchmen and they stand as good a chance as the other GC contenders.

Vincent Lavenu, general manager of Ag2r, has spoken of the need for his French outfit to deliver a good performance to a home audience that hasn't seen French success in the overall classification for 34 years.

"We must live up to the expectations of the public, the media and partners who like to see the French teams shine," Lavenu said. "We approach the Tour de France with the necessary humility of such a big race, but also with ambition and seriousness to be able to effect the race at all times. We hope to have more success than in 2018. Last year, after only a few days, we lost three riders who were forced to abandon."

Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) missed out on victory in the inaugural Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge, finishing second to Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) in a final dash to the finish line.

Overwhelming favourite of the race, Bardet attacked from a small group with 8.6km to go and only Spaniard Herrada could go with him.

>>> Tour de France 2019 start list: Provisional team squads containing Thomas, Cavendish, Nibali, Dumoulin and Sagan

From there on, the two rode almost side-by-side to the finish at the summit of the notorious Mont Ventoux, with Bardet attempting numerous attacks.

But the Frenchman could not shake an extremely poised Herrada, who eventually made an attack with 400m to go with Bardet unable to hold on to his wheel.

Herrada was able to cross the line with clear day light to take victory, with a forlorn looking Bardet rolling in for second place.

Rein Taaramäe (Total Direct Energie) arrived at the summit to take third place, at 1-12 down on Herrada.

How it happened

The first ever edition of the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge set off in sunny conditions on Monday from Vaison-la-Romaine for a 171km course to the summit of Mont Ventoux.

The peloton would face six categorised climbs before taking on Ventoux, a torturous 21.3km climb that features an average gradient of 7.4 per cent.

The race winner would almost certainly emerge on the climb, with Romain Bardet the outright favourite for victory, taking part in the race immediately after finishing the Critérium du Dauphiné on Sunday.

A breakaway of five men got up the road early on as the peloton settled in to take on the early climbs. Brice Feillu (Arkéa-Samsic), Angelo Tulik (Total Direct Energie), Rémy Rochas (Delko–Marseille Provence), Mario Gonzalez (Euskadi–Murias), and Alex Aranburu (Caja Rural) were the riders to escape, establishing a maximum gap of around three minutes.

They worked well together, still holding a steady gap of 1-55 in to the final 50km, with EF Education First and Cofidis doing much of the work on the front of the peloton.

The gap drastically reduced however into 20km to go, dropping down to around 35 seconds.

Feillu and Aranburu then went clear heading into the bottom of Mont Ventoux, holding on with 25 seconds in hand.

After hitting the final climb proper however, they were quickly caught by an Ag2r La Mondiale led peloton with Bardet poised for his expected attack.

By 10km to go the front group, led by Tony Gallopin and Bardet, only had a few riders in tow thanks to the attritional pace set, with Jesús Herrada and Rein Taaramäe the standout names to try and challenge the French team.

Bardet then made his attack with 8.6km to go, with Herrada the only rider able to respond. Taaramäe quickly dropped to around 30 seconds behind the pair, with riders now scattered down the mountain.

Things remained relatively calm up the bulk of the climb, with Bardet and Herrada sharing turns or riding side-by-side for the most part.

Bardet made a small dig with 2.6km to go, but Herrada was equal to it, looking extremely composed despite the climbing prowess his rival.

It was then a now seemingly desperate Bardet to go again with 1.8km remaining, clearly not content at a sprint finish to the summit. Herrada yet again held on and responded likewise when Bardet tried his final attack with 1.2km to go.

It was then Herrada's turn, making the decisive attack with 400m to go with Bardet quickly dropping the wheel and unable to claw back the space that had opened up.

The Cofidis man was able to cross the line with clear distance to Bardet to take victory, who had to settle for second at the first outing of the Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge.

Results

Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge 2019 (171km)

1. Jesús Herrada (Esp) Cofidis, Solutions Crédits, in 5-02-05

2. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 9 seconds

3. Rein Taaramäe (Est) Total Direct Energie, at 1-12

4. Julien El Fares (Fra) Delko Marseille Provence, at 1-38

5. Élie Gesbert (Fra) Arkéa-Samsic, at 2-24

6. Javier Moreno (Esp) Delko Marseille Provence, at 2-29

7. Pierpaolo Ficara (Ita) Amore & Vita-Prodir, at 2-40

8. Óscar Rodríguez (Esp) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias, at 2-43

9. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 2-53

10. Darwin Atapuma (Col) Cofidis, Solutions Crédits, at 2-58

Romain Bardet is the star attraction in upcoming Mont Ventoux one-day race, being held on Monday June 17.

The Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge is the first pro race to take in the iconic French mountain and is attracting WorldTour talent.

Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) will take on the race on home soil alongside riders from Groupama-FDJ and EF Education First.

Race organiser Nicolas Garcera said: "We are delighted that a rider like Romain Bardet has decided to participate in our race.

"Our course and the attraction of Mont Ventoux leave no one indifferent and we know that the public and viewers will live a great moment in a unique setting."

Other teams taking to the start line of the UCI 1.1 ranked race include Arkéa-Samsic, Cofidis, Total Direct Energie and Euskadi Basque Country-Murias.

The startlist show includes Bardet’s team-mates Nans Peters, winner of stage 17 of the Giro d’Italia, Joe Dombrowski (EF Education First), Cyril Gautier (Vital Concept-B&B Hotels) and Brice Feillu (Arkéa-Samsic).

Organisers have published the profile of the new 172km race, which features seven climbs before the dreaded and legendary Mont Ventoux.

The race will kick off with a 5km, easy 3.7 per cent climb, followed by Col des Aires at 3km and 5.4 per cent.

After that comes the first real test for the peloton, the 11.6km Col de l’Homme Mort with an average of 4.9 per cent.Over the next 80km there are a few smaller tests, before cycling’s most iconic test appears.

Mont Ventoux, which has featured in the Tour de France 16 times, is steeped in cycling history, both glorious and tragic.

In 1967, Brit Tom Simpson died on the slopes of the 21km climb.

>>> The unknown side of Mont Ventoux

The climb first featured in the Tour in 1951, but not as a summit finish

A Ventoux finish line first appeared in 1958, with an individual time trial from Bédoin to the top won by Charly Gaul.

There have been 10 summit finishes atop Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France’s history.

At 8.7 per cent, it is a brutal finale to the new one-day race.

The race will take the classic ascent up Ventoux from Bédoin, with a total elevation of 1612m.

Thomas Voeckler has backed his fellow Frenchmen Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) for success at the Tour de France 2019.

"I believe in them for victory, Voeckler said. "If we are not all behind Bardet or Pinot to succeed the Badger [Bernard Hinault], given their respective teams and the course, then we do not believe in anything."

Voeckler was replying to a series of tweets saying Bardet was not a favourite to win the overall classification in this year's Tour de France, and that the diminutive Frenchman was not on the same level as Chris Froome (Ineos) and Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb).

Another Twitter user suggested the French public should stop calling Bardet the favourite for the yellow jersey every year, that way they would avoid being disappointed if the Ag2r La Mondiale rider takes a still impressive podium place.

However, Voeckler reasoned the strength of both of his compatriots' teams as well as the suitability of this year's parcours meant he thought Bardet and Pinot stood just as good a chance of winning the overall classification as anyone else.

France have not had a winner in their home Grand Tour since Bernard Hinault beat his La Vie Claire team-mate Greg LeMond by 1-42 in 1985.

That isn't to say France haven't come close in recent years, with Romain Bardet finishing on the podium twice, coming third in 2017 and second in 2016, with Chris Froome (Ineos) winning both of those editions.

Before that, another Ag2r La Mondiale rider came closest to wearing the yellow jersey on the Champs-Élysées, when Jean-Christophe Péraud finished second, albeit 7-39 adrift of Vincenzo Nibali in 2014.

That year, Thibaut Pinot posted his best Tour performance and only podium appearance to date, finishing third, 8-15 down on the Italian.

Pinot finished sixth in last year's Vuelta a España and fourth in the 2017 Giro d'Italia, but has not completed a Tour de France since his 16th place finish in 2015.

Bardet has registered a top ten performance in every Tour de France since 2014, and is currently the most likely Frenchman, with odds of 40/1, to return a first home victory in 34 years this July.

Thomas Voeckler achieved one top five Tour de France GC finish in his career, finishing fourth in 2011, 3-20 behind Cadel Evans, with Andy and Frank Schleck taking up the other podium places. Voeckler did however wear the yellow jersey for a total of 19 days throughout his career, won four individual stages, and claimed the polka dot jersey in 2012.

Frenchman Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) believes that he can finally end the drought in the Tour de France for his home country.

Bardet, 28, has placed second and third already. He believes around the corner is a win, which would end the long 34-year gap since France's last winner, Bernard Hinault in 1985.

>>> Giro d’Italia organiser still hopeful of Geraint Thomas participation in 2019 edition

"We're sick of hearing about it but to be honest it's fair enough," Bardet told AFP of the drought.

"It sounds like a lot, but I believe I can do it because I've always been in the top-10."

Bardet has already won three stages in the Tour, his last to Peyragudes in 2017.

He placed second in 2016 and third in 2017, both times behind Team Sky's Chris Froome. Last summer, he placed sixth behind Team Sky winner Geraint Thomas.

He added: "If I can continue my progress and find that grain of genius that allows me to continue to dream further and continue to believe in myself, then everything will gather together for me to go further."

Bardet lost time in the first week in 2018 due to crashes and mechanicals and began the first mountain day almost two minutes behind. The Worlds, finishing second behind Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team), nearly made up for the bad luck.

He remains determined, so much so he pushed aside a brief consideration to race the 2019 Giro d'Italia in May for the Tour, which runs from July 6 to 28.

"With the high altitude, a high number of mountain stages and even one that runs through the town where I was born and a super tough Alpine finish, I simply had to concentrate on the Tour [over the Giro]," he said.

"The route of this Tour is made for an attack-minded rider who wants to set things alight."

Bardet, as well as others, have been criticised for not attacking to try to break Sky's hold on the Tour de France. The British super-team won every edition since 2012, except for 2014 when Froome abandoned early.

"You need to go close to learn, to have a brush with success before being able to get the big wins," Bardet replied when asked if he lacked that attacking instinct.

"That's how I've been playing it and I'm very close and if I keep at it something will open up.

"I can now maintain a high, stable level of performance that will allow me to go full-on in 2019 and achieve an even higher level. If I can step up one more level I'll be there."

Frenchman Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) will skip an opportunity to debut in the Giro d'Italia to focus on the Tour de France again in 2019.

Bardet, second in the 2016 Tour de France behind Chris Froome (Sky) and sixth in 2018, could not resist his home race after seeing the route announced.

"Until then, doubts remained," he told L'Equipe.

"But when I put the two race routes side by side, it was very clear. This is one of the first times I really saw the many opportunities available for our team.

"And as we know that the challenge of doubling Giro-Tour, playing for places on the podium, remains very difficult for me. I still prefer to focus on the Tour de France."

Bardet has never raced the Italian Grand Tour with so many mountain passes that could suit his climbing physique.

French and with a home team, the Tour de France is too big of a race to ignore. For the 2019 edition, announced in October, the organiser included a low amount of time trialling: 27 kilometres plus a 27-kilometre team time trial. The Giro d'Italia has 58.5 kilometres of time trials in 2019.

Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb), second in the Giro and Tour this year, said that he is unsure about racing the Tour.

"There are several elements," Bardet continued. "The mountains come soon in the race with the Planche des Belles Filles [stage six], the time trial is quite early [13], there are seven passes over 2,000 metres, an Alpine triptych which will serve as the last battle, roads that I know very, very well, mythical arrivals like the Tourmalet..."

The French team will use Merckx bikes in 2019, another important aspect with the Grand Départ in Brussels, Eddy Merckx's city.

"It's nice that the Tour 2019 is a tribute to Eddy Merckx," Bardet added. "That gives extra motivation to put everything on the Tour. "

Sky's Chris Froome, the 2018 Giro winner, and Geraint Thomas, the Tour winner, have yet to announce their plans.

Romain Bardet has revealed he is considering a tilt at both the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France next season. The 28 year-old has studied the routes of each race and believes success at both is a possibility.

“Yes of course,” he replied when asked if he wished to ride the Giro in 2019.

“The Tour looks really attractive, however the Giro is part of my career plan,” the AG2R La Mondiale rider revealed in an interview with French sports paper l'Equipe at the Shanghai Criterium last week.

>>> The Tour de France route

>>> Giro d'Italia 2019 route

Bardet began his 2018 campaign with a round of French one day races before heading to Strade Bianchi and finishing 13th at Tirreno Adriatico. For 2019, however, he will tackle Paris-Nice as a preface to the possible Giro Tour double.

A professional since 2012, Bardet has never raced the Giro, though he has proved his class at the Tour with two podium places, finishing 3rd in 2017 and second the year before.

At this year’s race, however, he managed only sixth, behind eventual winner Geraint Thomas (Team Sky). In each edition time trials are where he has lost the most time.

With three individual time trials in next year’s Giro adding up to a total of more than 58km against the clock, Bardet and his team will take time before deciding on his participation.

“They look difficult, but then we know the Giro runs differently from the Tour,” he explained. “We need to weigh the pros and cons. It is important that everyone gives his point of view and we decide at the end of November because the training in December will have to be prepared accordingly.”

Thomas and Froome are just two of a slew of time triallists who have proven successful at recent grand tours. Indeed this year's Tour was dominated by rouleurs who have converted themselves to climbers, with Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) finishing second and Primož Roglič fourth.

"These riders can become climbers by losing weight, while the opposite is not true," explained Bardet. "We also see a collective dimension in the mountains, with [team] trains. Pure climbers have less room for manoeuvre against the high general level [who] make sustained tempos."

The Tour too has 55km against the clock, though more than half of that is the Stage 2 team time trial, and the race is otherwise heavily weighted in favour of climbers like Bardet. Next year’s race will include five summit finishes and an unusual amount of riding over 2000 metres.

Whatever Bardet chooses he will not sacrifice a leadership role at the Tour for Giro success.

“I could not ride the Tour as a follower, otherwise I will stay at home.” he continued. “I also know that the double challenge is complicated to achieve.”

Complicated is perhaps an understatement. This year Team Sky’s Chris Froome became the latest in a long line of riders who have failed to win both Giro and Tour in the same year.

The 2018 Tour de France was delayed from its traditional start date because of the football WorldCup, but even with that extra week’s recovery Froome failed to bag a fifth Tour victory, finishing only third, after his spectacular Giro success in May.

Indeed you have to go back as far as 1998 and Marco Pantani to find the last Giro Tour double winner, with Stephen Roche achieving the remarkable feat in 1987 before winning the world championships that same year.

In the days before helmets became high tech items and obligatory for racing, most pros rode with bare heads. The helmets which were used were leather “hairnet” style.

Now Ekoi has launched the Legende, a modern helmet that harks back to that old-style headgear and is made in Italy to the French brand’s exclusive design. Only Romain Bardet on the AG2R La Mondiale team is wearing the new helmet.

The main feature of the Legende helmet is its raised, curved section longitudinal ribs, with thin lateral connectors that fit close to the head. Ekoi says that it has 28 vents and has been wind tunnel tested. Weight is claimed to be 230 grams.

>>> Helmet buyer's guide

Modern features include full in-mould construction, with an internal polypropylene cage. There’s three way strap adjustment and a magnetic buckle closure.

Ekoi includes three sets of foam inserts with different thicknesses as well as a removable bug net. Keeping up the retro theme, there’s a leather carrying bag too. Ekoi offers a five year warranty on the new helmet, part of its Premium line.

Ekoi lets you select from nine different colour options, including national colours as well as white, black, gold and AG2R team replica. The Ekoi Legende is available through the brand’s direct sales web site and priced at £178.48. Unlike its normal range, Ekoi says that it does not discount its Premium range products on its site.