Tour de France 2024, Bardet's tale in the yellow jersey: "A dream ending"

Rimini, 29 June 2024 - In an increasingly technological cycling characterized by computers, earphones and now also the controversial 'control room' used by Visma-Lease a Bike (and already in the sights ofUCI) there is still room for romance and for athletes who make everyone agree regardless of nationality. The Tour de France 2024 opens with the historian Grand Départ dall 'Italy, a country very dear to Romain Bardet, who not surprisingly announced his retirement after Giro d'Italia 2025. Almost like a circle that closes, the transalpine finds one of the most beautiful victories of his career on Italian soil: success of the debut stage of the Great Boucle and first ever yellow jersey.  

Bardet's statements

  The dream of the first leader of the general classification also bears the signature of Frank Van Den Broek, the trusted teammate at Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL who went on the run in the morning and then sacrificed himself personally for his captain, who on the finish line of Rimini, reached with difficulty in light of the furious forcing of the group, did not hide the emotion after the sprint on the climb of San Leo: what almost seemed like an unrealistic shot instead became the good deed he cheated the entire platoon. "The ending was a dream. Wearing the yellow jersey has always been one of the main objectives of my career and perhaps it is no coincidence that I achieved it in the very year in which I approached the Tour de France with a smile and without pressure. Today I knew I had to suffer because I knew the climbs. I felt I had nothing to lose and in the end, despite the headwind, it went well."  

Bettiol's statements

  For a Bardet celebrating and for whom all cycling enthusiasts have been rooting, there is a runner who chews bitterly: this is the case of Alberto Bettiol, the fresh new Italian champion who by his own admission would have willingly 'overshadowed' the tricolor shirt momentarily with the yellow one. Instead at home EF Education EasyPost Chaos and anarchy reign when Ben Healy, the 'crazy horse' who is no stranger to personal initiatives, takes off and in fact almost acts as a stopper in the pursuit carried out by his own team. "I'm happy with how I felt on such a hot but still beautiful day that I will remember forever. Bardet e Van Den Broek they were good, but we did something wrong in terms of strategy: sending Healy on the attack he took away the verve of our run-up from behind, but that's how racing is done. It's a shame, because we deserved more, but we're at Tour de France and the level is very high in every grade". Perhaps also for this reason Bettiol he slips out of the favorites for tomorrow's stage. "I think the route is too hard for me and already today it wasn't easy to stay in the small group that reached the finish line together."

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