It was one of the images of the 2017 Tour de France, perhaps of the whole season: Romain Bardet slumped against a concrete wall in the bowels of the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille after finishing his ride in the penultimate-day time trial. Just a hundred metres away, outside in the light, Chris Froome is celebrating a fourth yellow jersey.
In the darkness, Bardet can barely raise an expression, his glazed eyes fixed on nothing in particular. He is utterly spent – a portrait of emptiness, both physical and emotional.
Bardet left nothing out on the road last year and, the energy having somehow returned, he's back to put himself through it all over again.
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The three weeks of the Tour de France must be exhausting for each and every rider, but Bardet carries the extra baggage of being French – or, more precisely, a Frenchman who can win the Tour. That, as if any reminder were required, hasn't happened since Bernard Hinault all the way back in 1985. Bardet is only the third Frenchman – after Jean-Christophe Péraud and Thibaut Pinot – to make the podium this century.
After finishing second in 2016 and third last year, there is now only one step left to stand on. Even if Bardet doesn't necessarily see it like that, France expects.
"I'm lucky to be so well supported, but at the same time it's an enormous amount of pressure, because people expect so much," Bardet tells Cyclingnews in the wake of the Critérium du Dauphiné, where he finished third overall.
The best that he can be
Taking on Team Sky
Take the risk or lose the chance
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/bardet-if-you-put-your-heart-into-it-anything-can-happen
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