"It highlighted the shortcomings of our sport" - Romain Bardet critical after Tre Valle Varesine's mid-race cancellation

Romain Bardet doesn't have many days left of his professional career. As such, every race he takes on is important. Sadly for the Frenchman, earlier this week at Tre Valli Varesine, the race was cancelled after just 60km due to relentless downpours and the subsequently dangerous conditions.

Although the race was, as mentioned, cancelled eventually, that decision came only after the women had completed their race and the men were nearly 60km through their edition. "Once again it highlighted the shortcomings of our sport and the difficulties in making a decision," Bardet assessed critically a few days later at the start of Gran Piemonte, in conversation with Cycling Pro Net.

"The conditions had been announced for a few days and we found ourselves in an uncomfortable situation, both us riders and the organizer. In the end, we decided to stop when the conditions were improving, so it's a shame for our sport,” Bardet continues critically. "I think that this could have been avoided."

As mentioned, just a few hours earlier and in similar conditions, the women completed their race, with Cedrine Kerbaol taking victory, despite a number of the peloton raising complaints. "Hats off to the girls who raced first," says Bardet warmly. "The first two laps of the course were quite dangerous, but then when the riders decided to cancel... it's not a professional approach. We were warned one lap later by the organization, I think our sport deserves better coordination to make everything more understandable."