Romain Bardet finished as a rope.
Sounded, blown.
Escorted by crew members who towed a suffering leader.
If the autan wind accompanied the peloton during the departure from Carcassonne, the riders were then stunned by the heat which transformed the day into an ordeal.
At the arrival of a stage of suffering, emptied of all color, dumbfounded look, the Auvergnat was struggling to restore order in his ideas.
In ambush in the general classification (4th) before plunging into the furnace, the leader of the DSM team lost time and slipped out of the Top 5 and far from the podium.
Ninth place.
To discover
The route of the Tour de France 2022
The general classification of the Tour de France
I was completely lost
Romain Bardet
Tested, he says: “
I have no explanation.
I was super feverish, unable to accelerate.
Headaches… One of the worst days I've had in a while.
A trial.
I take my hat off to all my teammates who were there, at the beginning and at the end.
Without them, I couldn't finish the stage.
I did not feel well.
I had chills, my times hitting.
Truly a terrible day.
I didn't see it coming…
”
Groggy, like a boxer who had just taken a violent uppercut, Romain Bardet suffered: “
Bounce back?
The urge will be there, but… It wasn't even the legs.
I was completely lost.
I had nothing left.
My head was really pounding.
I was completely off the mark.
I must try to rest.
I didn't see it coming, I felt fresh but from the first acceleration, I completely lost my footing, it's not something I'm used to, it's hard to take.
I hope I can recover.
»
Swell, in the name of the brother
In Carcassonne, the Canadian Hugo Houle, his former team-mate in Vincent Lavenu's team, won the first victory of his career after 40 km alone (the second for a Canadian on the Tour, after Steve Bauer in 1988).
Overwhelmed by emotion, the rider of the Israel-Premier Tech team (who offers himself a second success on this Tour after that won by the Australian Simon Clarke at Arenberg) crossed the line by pointing to the sky of the right index finger, in memory of his brother who died ten years ago after being run over by a driver.
"
My brother was three years younger than me, we cycled together, track, we also trained for the triathlon.
He was faster than me, it was a subject of jokes between us.
When I lost him, I kept running for him.
My motivation was to win for him.
The AG2R team that welcomed me was incredible, they gave me time to come back, it took me several years.
If I am where I am, it is thanks to them.
It's incredible.
It was a crazy dream, completely crazy to win a victory in the Tour.
I'm sure my brother helped me
,” he swears.
At the heart of a sweltering day, the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar got restless, tried three attacks but each time saw the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard jump on him with the speed of a cat.
The Dane, with composure in the oven, mastered the first part of the Pyrenean triptych.
Serene, he waits impatiently for the sequel…