The final stage of the 2025
Critérium du Dauphiné marked the end of a race, but also the end of an era. As
the peloton lined up for the last time in this year’s edition, they also
gathered to honour Romain Bardet, one of France’s most cherished riders, who
called time on his professional road racing career after more than a decade in
the sport.
It was a fitting farewell.
Bardet, 34, was given a guard of honour at the start by his Team Picninc PostNL
teammates and the wider peloton. And on the final climb, rather than fighting
for position, he sat up, drifted to the back, and soaked in the applause from
fans lining the road. Riding alongside teammate and close friend Chris
Hamilton, he crested the final summit of his career with a smile and a wave.
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“I’ve been preparing and then
racing for a while in this last period since before the Giro, as I’ve been
having a lot of fun,” Bardet said afterwards in a team press release. “Seeing
everything and everyone at the side of the road today; it’s a magnificent
finish to the race. It was hard not to let emotion get the better of me too.”
Though the racing was hard and
fast, Bardet still found the space to reflect. “There was great emotion at the
start but honestly it was a really hard pace during the stage. I’m happy to
have been able to end my career in a place I know well; the setting is
magnificent in the middle of the mountains. I’m very happy to finish with all
my friends, and we get to ride down the mountain together one last time.”
For those who have followed
Bardet’s career, the quiet dignity of his farewell was no surprise. He has
always carried himself with grace, a rider who blended attacking flair with
honesty and humility.
A career shaped by the Tour and the mountains
Bardet turned professional in
2012 with AG2R La Mondiale, and within two years had already made his mark. His
breakthrough came at the Tour de France in 2014, where he finished sixth
overall, climbing with the best and showing his class in the Alps. But it was
the next two editions that defined him in the eyes of the French public.
In 2016, Bardet finished second
overall at the Tour, behind only Chris Froome. He won Stage 19 to Saint-Gervais
Mont Blanc in the rain with a bold solo attack, one of the great mountain raids
of the decade. A year later, he was third behind Froome and Rigoberto Urán,
this time winning Stage 12 atop Peyragudes with a devastating uphill finish.
These Tour podiums captured the
imagination of a country still searching for its first Tour winner since
Bernard Hinault in 1985. Bardet, with his elegant climbing style and cerebral
personality, became the face of French cycling, admired not only for his
results, but for how he raced.
His Tour tally finishes with four
stage wins, two podiums, and six top 10 overall finishes, including seventh
place in 2022 and 2023. He also won the King of the Mountains jersey during the
2019 edition, a race lit up by French compatriots Thibaut Pinot and Julian
Alaphilippe. But numbers only tell part of the story.
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Beyond the Tour
Bardet’s success wasn’t limited
to his home Grand Tour. In 2018, he finished second at the World Championships
in Innsbruck, Austria, behind Alejandro Valverde. Then, he added a Grand Tour
stage win at the Vuelta a España in 2021, when he surged clear on Stage 14 to
Pico Villuercas. It was his first major win in several years and marked a
rebirth of sorts after joining DSM following his long tenure at AG2R.
He also won stages at the
Critérium du Dauphiné and Tour de l’Ain, and finished in the top 10 of the Giro
on two separate occasions. In 2025, he nearly completed his set of grand tour
stage victories, only to be cruelly denied by Isaac del Toro at the Giro. Across
more than a decade, he built a reputation as one of the peloton’s most
versatile and respected riders.
The greatest moment
We cannot complete a Romain Bardet
farewell article without talking about stage 1 of the 2024 Tour de France.
On the first stage of his final
Tour, Bardet and teammate Frank den Broek held off the chasing peloton to hang
on by five seconds to take a beautiful, and emotional, victory. And with it, at
last, was the yellow jersey that Bardet had craved for so long.
Bardet's yellow jersey is one of the most popular moments in cycling history
Yes, he would lose the jersey a
day later, but Bardet did not care. He had finally donned the yellow jersey,
and he has openly said since that this was the greatest moment of his career.
A rider who stood apart
What made Bardet different was
not just how he raced, but how he carried himself. In an increasingly
data-driven sport, he remained an old soul, more intuitive than programmed. He
read books, spoke in interviews with reflection and depth, and never shied away
from speaking his mind on difficult subjects, including concussion protocols
and mental health in sport.
He was often seen as the last
romantic in a world of marginal gains. That persona, made him a rider others
wanted to follow, even when the wins became less frequent.
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Now, Bardet transitions away from
the WorldTour, but not away from the bike. He plans to compete in gravel
racing, a format that suits his love of the outdoors and of riding for its own
sake. It’s an apt next step for someone who always seemed more at peace on the
road than in the spotlight.
One last descent
As Bardet said farewell atop the
final climb in the Dauphiné, the moment was not grand or ceremonial, but it was
deeply human. He didn’t get the Tour de France title many hoped for. But Romain
Bardet leaves cycling with something harder to define, and arguably more
valuable: the respect of his peers, the love of his fans, and a career that
always stayed true to the rider he wanted to be.
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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