Special envoy to Puy Mary
Wide open jersey, torn shorts, his face tortured by a broad grimace, Romain Bardet crosses the finish line.
Retarded.
The Auvergnat had, on roads he knows by heart, imagined a stage "in superb landscapes, difficult to enter, without downtime".
He was delighted to experience "the greatest race in the world in front of his audience, his family, his friends".
The AG2R-La Mondiale team did not hide its ambition to see its leader put on the yellow jersey.
The ace !
A fall, after refueling in a right turn, 86 km from the finish, brutally tore the patiently constructed dream.
Romain Bardet tried to get up immediately, before being forced to sit down for a few moments, dazed.
Stunned.
Accompanied by his teammates, he finally regained his place in the peloton.
At the top of Puy Mary, five hours after the projects, the most consistent French rider on the Tour of the last ten years says: “A rider lost control in front of me at 60 km / h, I stumbled, I banged his head.
I struggled to come to my senses.
I had pain in my right leg and hip.
I lost my feelings.
I was cursed on this step.
Everything was going well, it's a big stroke of bad luck.
I'm very far now… I will recover and come back for stage victories… ”
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The Auvergnat finds himself rejected at the foot of the Top 10 (11th), just ahead of Guillaume Martin (12th) who did not have the legs to accompany the best despite the will often deployed alone.
The difficulties lined up by the organizers (4,600 m of elevation gain) heralded an explosive end.
The favorites were explained far behind the stage victory rewarding the Colombian Daniel Martinez proving to be stronger than the tandem of the team Bora Hansgrohe (Kämna-Schachmann).
With a view to the final explanation, Ineos-Grenadiers and Jumbo-Visma (in that order), the dominant teams, showed the muscles, cleaned the road, made a violent selection.
Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar are irremediably detached and widened gaps.
At this level, if the chronometric impact seems slight, the psychological pain is profound.
The seconds fall, strike, like uppercuts.
The winner of the 2019 Tour, Egan Bernal, gave up only 43 seconds but his pace in the last kilometers, his state of fatigue at the finish, bent in two on his bike, shortness of breath, the forbidden gaze illustrated the feeling. of abandonment inspired by the domination imparted by the Slovenian tandem.
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In the general classification, the Slovenian duo Roglic-Pogacar are ahead of four Colombians (Egan Bernal, Rigoberto Uran, Nairo Quintana and Miguel Angel Lopez).
“We are living an extraordinary moment for Colombian cycling.
We have never had four Colombians in the Top 10 overall.
On the other races and not just on the Tour, we have shown that there are a lot of talents, a lot of young talents emerging ”, underlines Daniel Martinez, the stage winner.
“
There are a lot of professional Slovenians in many sports.
We are a sporting nation
”
Primoz Roglic
Nine days before the parade on the Champs-Élysées, these six are held in 1 minute 31. Roglic plants: “The Tour is far from over.
There is still a long way to go.
Lots of things are going to happen.
We will see many different scenarios, with suspense.
The most dangerous rival?
I don't want to worry about other names, I just do my own job.
"
In his wake, a runner confirms his condition and his ambition: his compatriot Tadej Pogacar.
Installed in second place in the general classification, he confides: “Primoz is in very good shape, I don't know what will happen in the Alps but I will continue to fight.
"Asked about the Slovenian domination, unprecedented on the Tour, Primoz Roglic, yellow jersey since Laruns (9th stage) slips:" There are many professional Slovenians in many sports.
We are a sporting nation.
For cycling, we are in a situation in which there is an emulation.
We push ourselves to be better every day… ”
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