"When I saw an opportunity in the final, I went for it" Romain Bardet close to winning with a late attack
Cycling
Younger Romain Bardet would look at the Giro d'Italia stage 13 and think 'that's something for me' with hilly parcours and a steep finish. But at the twilight of his career, the Frenchman had far more modest goals- Of course not.
In a moment of calm during the storm with ten kilometers to go, the 33-year-old Frenchman surprised everyone with a downhill attack and, if it wasn't for Alpecin-Deceuninck emerging to pace behind, maybe his daring move would've suceeded.
"It was a harder day than it looked on paper, with some super fast flat sections at the start and then a hilly section where the race exploded," Bardet confided with his immediate impressions after the stage. It was thanks INEOS Grenadiers raid at the technical hilly section with about 50 kilometers to go that the front of the race completely exploded.
When the situation calmed down a bit on the subsequent flat section, the peloton regrouped again, including Bardet who also didn't have a response to the attack of INEOS. And then came his turn in the descent from the penutimate climb and a Red Bull KM sprint.
When the GC favourites who had just sprinted for the bonus seconds began to look at each other in the descent, Bardet jumped after the opportunity to attack. "When I saw an opportunity in the final, I went for it," he said.
He was joined by Lidl-Trek's Mathias Vacek, but ultimately found himself just holding onto the Czech rider's wheel for the most part. Although it was a promising attack, the Alpecin-Deceuninck train neutralized their move at the first slopes of final ramp in Vicenza which marked the end of the shift for Bardet.
Looking back, he could only praise the work of his teammates who protected both Bardet and leader Max Poole through all the attacks and eventually it's only a 6-second loss for Poole in the standings. "As a team, we rode well together, looking after each other and staying in position," he concluded.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses 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.
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