Amidst all the media fuss about Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Chris Froome (Sky) at the Vuelta a Andalucia, other top stage racers such as Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) have been flying under.
Sixth in the Tour de France last year, in Andalucia’s hilly stage on Saturday the 24-year-old finished a strong eighth despite an untimely puncture at the foot of the final, very difficult, climb to Allanadas. How well Bardet would have done without having to waste energy by fighting to get back on after his puncture therefore will remain an incognito but Bardet’s strong third place behind Contador and Froome at 1:39 on the ultra-hard Hazallanas climb the day before suggests that he could have done very well.
“Without that puncture, Romain could have maybe made it onto the final podium overall, to have had him standing alongside Contador and Froome would have been a nice photo,” AG2R La Mondiale sports director Julien Jurdie told Cyclingnews somewhat ruefully on Sunday.
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As it is, Bardet took home a fifth place overall at 3:13 and the satisfaction of having been ‘best of the rest’ behind Contador and Froome on the crucial Hazallanas climb. On the downside, there’s the frustration of a puncture at exactly the wrong moment on stage four, and when he says he was feeling stronger, too, than on stage three.
“On Saturday [stage three] to Allanadas I was feeling much better than when I finished third [on Friday],” Bardet told Cyclingnews before the final day’s racing. “I felt better and I’m improving day-by-day, I’m very happy to be in good shape.”
“It would have been possible to get on the final podium without that puncture, but I have no regrets, Froome and Contador are racing really impressively.”
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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