Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) believes that a strong Tour de France will be the best preparation possible for a tilt at the Olympic road race next summer. There are less than two weeks between the final stage of the Tour and the road race in Rio, but it suits the Frenchman better to have his two key targets so close together.
“For me it is better because you can maintain the pressure. There is less doubt because it is so soon after the Tour,” Bardet told Cyclingnews. “I’m always in good shape after a Grand Tour. For sure I am tired but I have a good feeling on the bike, and the Olympics is really good for climbers, especially for me. If you have one month or more then you have to train again so the training for the Olympics is the Tour. I’m really happy with how the calendar is made and I hope to be in as good shape as the past few years."
Bardet knows what he is up against in Rio after finishing third in the Aquece Rio - International Road Cycling Challenge that served as the test event, fuelling his desire to make it to the Olympic Games. “I will be 25 and the Olympics will be really hilly so I really want to be in the French team for that event, and I really want to train hard for that. But you have to be lucky to have a good Tour – you could crash at the Tour and be at home for the Olympics.”
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Next year’s Tour de France might feature two time trials, a discipline that Bardet is not known for – he lost more than a minute in the 13.8km prologue in the 2015 Tour – but their hilly profile will have raised a smile when they were revealed last month. After knocking on the door of the top five on GC in 2014, the parcours provides him with a strong chance of bettering it and he’s keen not to turn it down, despite having the Olympics around the corner.
“I don’t want to think it is a waste of energy but for sure if you fight for the general classification you have to go full gas in all of the stages. It is a lot of pressure and you are tired at the end but that is the kind of rider that I want it to become,” said Bardet. “Next year I will fight again for the overall classification first and then see how it works.”
A mixed 2015
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