Day of contrasts Friday in the French camp: Romain Bardet abandoned the Tour of Italy in the 13th stage won in Cuneo (north-west) by Arnaud Démare, winner for the third time in the sprint.
Under the heat, the Giro continued its race by elimination of the favorites.
Bardet, one of the strong men of the race in view of the queen stage of the Blockhaus last Sunday, gave up against all odds.
Pale-faced, plagued by gastric problems, he got into his DSM team's car about an hour after the start from Sanremo in this 150-kilometre stage without major difficulty.
"
After falling ill during yesterday's (Thursday) stage, the situation got worse overnight and despite all efforts, he is no longer in a position to continue the race
," the DSM squad announced.
This abandonment cut short the ambitions of the Auvergnat, very sharp on this Giro, to repeat his performances in the Tour de France (2nd in 2016, 3rd in 2017), or even to do even better.
"
I think it's Romain's year
", recently predicted to AFP Thibaut Pinot, convinced by the rise in power of his ex-rival in the youth categories, winner in April of the Tour des Alpes and author until now on a convincing course.
“
I am one of the three best
”, had also estimated the French, at the level of the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz and the Spaniard Mikel Landa during the ascent of the Blockhaus.
Without however managing to win against the Australian Jai Hindley the stage success he is still waiting for in the Giro, for his second participation.
A thrilling chase
Conversely, Démare triumphed for the third time since leaving Hungary.
After Messina (5th stage) and Scalea (6th), the Picard of the Groupama-FDJ team offered himself a "
tris
", only one step from his record of the Giro 2020 (four stages and the classification by points).
This time, Démare beat the German Phil Bauhaus, the British Mark Cavendish and the Colombian Fernando Gaviria in a very long and long uncertain sprint.
Because the peloton, in single file, only took over the breakaway of four riders (Eenckhoorn, Maestri, Prodhomme, J. van der Berg) 700 meters from the line after a breathless chase.
"
It's an incredible day, the breakaway held up really well and I started to doubt
," admitted the Frenchman.
"
I suspected at 10 terminals that we were going to return to 10 terminals, I was dead, I was wondering what to do
".
“
I sprint to the breaking point, as I can, and I come to snatch this victory
”, added the Frenchman who signed the 87th victory of his career, his eighth in the Giro, and insisted on the role of his team. , entirely at his service: “
The guys did a monstrous job!
»
Saturday, the 14th stage, short (147 km) and intense, offers a rugged circuit around Turin, with the double ascents of Colle della Maddalena and Superga.
The arrival is judged in town, in the former capital of the kingdom of Italy in the 19th century.
