Perennial fighter Romain Bardet battles to 10th on his final Tour de France road stage

The penultimate stage at the Tour de France saw the peloton take on a short but explosive route in and around the Nice area, where Romain Bardet dazzled and delighted the crowds on the final open-road stage of his Tour de France career. Fighting until the very end in a fashion that was a parallel of his career so far, Bardet crossed the line atop Col de la Couillole in a strong tenth place.
From the start on Saturday the pace was fierce with multiple attacks and groups all over the road on the first ascent of Col de Braus. Things regrouped somewhat over the top and Bardet, who had battled to return to the reduced yellow jersey group, went on the attack alongside some others on the following descent. Getting clear, a good group of ten eventually formed out front and their advantage grew to over four minutes as they tackled the Col du Turini. However, on the lower slopes of the next climb the peloton upped the pace and started to cut into the lead, and cresting Col de La Colmiane it hovered at around three minutes. A fast descent followed before Bardet and his fellow escapees were faced with the last ascent of the day; the challenging 15-kilometre-long Col de la Couillole.
As the gradients started to bite and the kilometres ticked by, the break began to disintegrate with Bardet hanging tough as the group reduced to around six riders, before Carapaz and Mas launched a stinging attack. Bardet dug deep, gathering his strength to almost make it back to them, but he had to succumb and ride at his own tempo as the third rider on the road. In the meantime, an infernal pace was set in the ever-reducing yellow jersey group, which drastically cut into the gap of the leaders and Bardet, before the attacks started. Just inside five kilometres to go, Bardet was passed by Pogacar and Vingegaard as he continued to battle up the climb. Not giving in, he pushed all the way to the finish where he was met with rapturous applause from adoring fans, waving as he crossed the line for a very commendable and hard-fought tenth place.
Speaking after the finish an emotional and exhausted Bardet said: “It was pretty special out there today. I was thinking of my wife and child all of the time while I was riding. I think today was a good summary of my career as a whole: never giving up through the ups and downs. I really did my best today and left it all on the road. I wanted to try one last time at the Tour de France and this was it. When I came over the line and saw everyone here, it feels special to me, and now I really feel like my time at the race is finished.”
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Matt Winston added: “It was a crazy hard start today, and Romain did a super job to get in the break. He rode a smart race out front and came into the final in a good way. From there it was a battle on that final climb to try and make it. Romain dug as deep as he could and gave everything, to take a solid top ten finish in the end. He can be really proud of the grit and effort that he showed out there today.”