TOUR DE FRANCE – 11TH STAGE – Returned to 2nd place, Bardet does not want to ignite: “It will be even harder tomorrow” – Eurosport FR

This is the other big winner of the day. If Jonas Vingegaard obviously performed the most beautiful of operations by winning the 11th stage with the yellow jersey at stake, Romain Bardet could also wear a broad smile on Wednesday, at the finish. Third at the Col du Granon, 1’10” after the Dane and 11 seconds behind Nairo Quintana, the Frenchman made a nice leap in the general standings. He climbed five ranks and even passed the beaten Tadej Pogacar to climb to 2nd place behind Vingegaard (+2’16”). However, the day had not started ideally. The leader of DSM found himself trapped after Roglic’s attack at the top of the Telegraph, the Slovenian then appearing in a group completed by Pogacar, Vingegaard and Thomas who counted almost a minute ahead. If he expected this 11th stage to be the first to really count for the general, the 31-year-old Auvergnat did not think that the battle would start immediately. “We did not expect it to be very hard from the Telegraph, he says. But I was still with Chris (Hamilton), and he did a great job of getting me back up front. And after that it was just a matter of legs.” “It was hard and tomorrow it will be even harder”Tour de FranceAlpe d’Huez on July 14, the ultimate French fantasy2 HOURS AGOOnce he came back to the best in the Galibier, he even allowed himself an attack before switching to the top in third position in the hierarchy of cadors, only a few meters from the Pogacar-Vingegaard pair. “We had to manage the forces a bit but the legs were responding well,” he says. The long descent towards the foot of the Granon did not suit him since the other leaders ended up in turn returning. But the winner of the Tour of the Alps regained his rank on the final climb, finishing 3rd behind the Dane and Quintana, who had escaped at the foot. If he says he is “very happy with this day”, he does not want to ignite at the sight of the classification in which he occupies 2nd place, with five opponents standing in the minute behind him. “You have to think about tomorrow already, because it will be another big battle.” The triptych out of category composed of Galibier (by Lautaret this time), Croix-de-Fer and Alpe d’Huez promises to be a new piece of bravery. “It’s been hard and tomorrow it’s going to be even harder” he professes. The road to a third podium on the Tour, five years after the last (3rd in 2017, 2nd in 2016), still looks long. But the big Bardet seems to be back.Romain Bardet in the Granon stage.Credit: ImagoTour de FranceHow Jumbo-Visma succeeded in his “demolition” of Pogacar3 HOURS AGOTour de FranceTour debates: Vingegaard did is it the hardest?5 HOURS AGO