Romain Bardet fights through crisis at Passo Pinei to retain 7th overall: "He did well in comparison to some of the other guys around him"

It's a race full of ups and downs for Romain Bardet who keeps mixing better and worse days at the Giro d'Italia. Unluckily for Bardet, the Team dsm-firmenich PostNL rider rolled a bad day after the second rest day, which turned the Tuesday's stage into a fight for survival in the GC for the French climber. Big props go to Bardet's teammates Kevin Vermaerke and Gijs Leemreijze who stuck with their leader and helped him through his crisis to defend the seventh spot overall.

"It was a really fast day of racing with the flatter start," Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Matt Winston recaps the stage in press release. "We looked for the break but then it became clear that some teams wanted to keep it close for a GC day. The guys bubbled up well in the bunch as we headed to the climbs in the finale."

"Unfortunately, Romain had a bad moment on the Passo Pinei but the guys rallied around him really well. They showed some great teamwork, kept calm, and brought him back just before the steep part of the last climb. From there, Romain just pushed all the way to finish to limit the losses, which he did well in comparison to some of the other guys around him on GC."

Eventually what seemed like a terrible day for the French climber turned out to be only a marginal loss of maximum of 40 seconds to Bardet's GC opponents. The top 5 has once again started to disappear from Bardet's sight but things can still change. Opportunity for that will be already tomorrow with double Passo Brocon ascent. And everyone fears the penultimate day of the Giro d'Italia, with another double ascent, this time the fearsome Monte Grappa (18.1 km a 8.1%) will be on the menu.