Romain Bardet happy to have taught new Picnic PostNL leader at Giro d'Italia - "He'll be one of the big names in the peloton"
Cycling
Romain Bardet has finished the final Grand Tour of his career and will be racing for the last time as a professional cyclist next week at the Criterium du Dauphiné. The Frenchman spent the Giro d'Italia chasing stage wins but also supporting Max Poole, to whom he passes on the Team Picnic PostNL Grand Tour leader status to.
"Max is still super young and he gave the GC a chance for the first time. That's super tough in three weeks and the result isn't even that important. It's about the mindset he had for three weeks," Bardet told In de Leiderstrui.
"Even when he was dropped, he showed fighting spirit and kept going until the finish. He's going to make big steps and in the future he'll be one of the big names in the peloton". The Briton rode to an 11th place overall, but this was largely affected by a disastrous stage 9 in the gravel where he lost over 5 minutes to Isaac del Toro.
Otherwise, the 22-year old managed a great Grand Tour on his first time aiming for GC, and gradually rose throughout the final half of the race almost into the Top10. In the final week specially, he was consistent and even on the attack against the main GC favourites, revealing a great amount of recovery abilities besides the obvious climbing talent.
Alongside the stage win for Casper van Uden, it can be called a rather successful Giro for the Dutch team. "It's a good feeling to be here in Rome. A lot can happen in such a Grand Tour, so I'm happy that I made it. For the team it was a successful Giro, with two young leaders in Casper and Max and they did a super good job. That offers perspective for the future, where we've spent three great weeks together. Something really came out of this group".
The team has also brought in important points in it's fight for survival at World Tour level. Now, Bardet and Poole may team up together at the Dauphiné. The Briton was equal in complementing his teammate: "It's very special that I was able to be part of Romain's last Giro. I've spent a lot of time with him this year. He's such a good guy, on and off the bike. Everyone knows him and knows what he's achieved on the bike, so it's very special that I've spent all that time with him".
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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