Insufficient recovered from his shoulder injury, Romain Bardet is forced to give up his last Paris-Nice, which will start Yvelines on Sunday.
Romain Bardet will not take part in his ninth and last Paris-Nice. On the eve of the departure of Perray-en-Yvelines, the 34-year-old French runner, who will stop his career after the Dauphiné Critérium in June, is insufficiently given from his shoulder injury, contracted on February 21 by falling during the 3rd stage of the Tour de l’Algarve.
Auvergne had been able to resume competition last weekendBut he finished 67th of the Ardèche classic on Saturday before abandoning the Drôme classic on Sunday. While his major objective of half-season is the Giro in May, Romain Bardet therefore preferred to ignore Paris-Nice.
“During last weekend races, it became clear that I had some problems because of my accident in Portugal. I hoped that things would improve this week after additional rehabilitation, but unfortunately, things are still not where they should be. I am grateful that with the team, we tried to see what was possible, but also that they did not put the pressure to run when I am not 100 %. We will see my program again and I hope that I will soon be able to regain full health and that we can achieve great things together in the coming months. I wish the guys from Paris-Nice good luck! “Said Bardet, who will be replaced by the Dutchman Tim Naberman for the sun race.
“An incredible disappointment” according to his coach
“It is an incredible disappointment for Romain to have to miss Paris-Nice,” reacted the coach of Picnic Postnl Rudi Kemna. Its winter preparation went perfectly and everything was planned so that it could play the general classification during what was to be its last Paris-Nice, supported by a solid team, both in the mountains and in the winds of the way. But his fall in Algarve left him too much pain in the shoulder, which prevents him from rolling safely and freely. Now, the accent is put on an intensive recovery process and, together, we will adjust our plans with the ultimate goal in mind: to be at our best level for the Giro. »The best result of Romain Bardet on Paris-Nice will therefore remain his fifth place in 2019, at 1’45 of the winner Egan Bernal. In principle, his next race was to be the Tour des Alpes from April 21.
