Julien Bernard may not have contested for the win on the stage 7 individual time-trial at the 2024 Tour de France, but the 32-year-old Frenchman of Lidl-Trek will take away a lifelong memory from the day after receiving a hero's welcome on the days's climb.
Bernard, who is competing in the fourth Tour de France of his career, was warmly welcomed on the slopes of the sole climb of the day by an army of his supporters. And, not too concerned about setting a blistering time, Bernard was also able to soak up the adulation, waving to friends and even at one point, coming to a complete stop to kiss his partner and child.
"It was a crazy stage, I had been waiting for it for months," reflects an emotional Bernard in his post-stage interview with Cyclism'Actu and the other assembled press. "In modern cycling, it's not easy to stop and see your family, but here, with a time trial, it was perfect because I could take the time to savour it. And I savoured it. In a sports career, that's something."
The immense reception given to Bernard by his friends and family is a moment that will live forever in the memory of the Frenchman. "The kiss to my wife? Of course it was intentional. That moment will only happen once in my life, so I wanted to enjoy it as much as possible," continues the Lidl-Trek rider. "She's the one who organised everything, we have to pay tribute to her for that."
As mentioned, Bernard was in no mood to fight for the stage win on the day, eventually stopping the clock with the 62nd fastest time of the day. That won't be the case for the rest of the Tour however, with the Frenchman targeting what would be just a second career win. "I enjoyed it yesterday, I enjoyed it a lot today and I really want to enjoy it tomorrow. There will be something to play for on this stage. We'll have to see how Mads Pedersen recovered from his fall, that will determine the strategy we'll use. All scenarios are possible," he concludes.
Place comments
0 Comments
You are currently seeing only the comments you are notified about, if you want to see all comments from this post, click the button below.
Show all comments