Romain Bardet doesn't want to miss any opportunities: "Curious to see how far top form can take me in the Tour"

Romain Bardet will start his tenth Tour de France in Bilbao on Saturday. Two days before the start of the race, the Team DSM-Firmenich leader spoke to the media via an online press conference, which IDLProCycling.com also attended.

The Frenchman chose the Giro as his main objective in the past two years, and he reflected on that decision. "It's also good to change things up occasionally. In the first ten years of my career, I focused everything on the Tour, but in 2021, I wanted to try something different. I was very happy with the opportunity to try something new in the Giro."

"It doesn't mean that by doing that for two years, I wanted to ignore the Tour for the rest of my career," he continued on that subject. "With this year's route, I could give it another good shot in the Tour, so I'm very satisfied with that."

Bardet was "surprised" when he heard about Puy de Dome

With the route, he refers to the climb to the Puy de Dome, in his own region. "I was very surprised when I heard that we would do the Puy de Dome, it has been so long," Bardet's face immediately lit up with a smile. "For me, it feels iconic; we don't get that chance very often. It's going to be very special for me."

"The Puy de Dome is going to be a big show; I expect a great celebration. Everyone is so happy that the Tour is coming back to this climb after having many finishes here in the 60s/70s." Bardet understands that there is also criticism, but he mainly sees the positive side to this news. "When you do something big, something new, there will always be criticism. I see it mainly as a big boost for the entire region; we're going to have amazing images of a beautiful race."

He didn't reveal too much regarding his exact ambitions. "In the general classification, I'll go for the best possible option, but I don't want to focus too much on other riders," said the fifth-place finisher in the Tour de Suisse. "I'll just look for opportunities to gain time on everyone. That's my main goal."

He already feels at home at DSM-Firmenich. "We have worked hard on many aspects, and I have become a more complete rider. It will be interesting to see how far I can go in this Tour de France if I can reach my best level. Last year, after a solid preparation in the Giro, I had that top form, but then I got sick. I am curious to see how far it can take me in the Tour."