Giro d'Italia 2021: Romain Bardet 'didn't realise' he finished second behind Egan Bernal
The Frenchman put in a strong performance on the final climb and descent of stage 16 to move up in the overall standings


Romain Bardet put in a superb display on stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia in horrendous conditions to move up to seventh in the overall standings, but says he didn't even realise he'd finished second to stage winner Egan Bernal
Bardet (DSM) held on with the race favourites up until the attack of the pink jersey Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) on the Passo Giau where he, along with all the other riders, were left riding in ones and twos behind the Colombian.
Over the top, Bardet managed to use his exceptional descending skills to catch up with the rider second on the road, Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) before working hard to drill it to the line where Bardet sprinted to second before getting a pat on the back from Caruso, who moves up to second in GC.
"I didn’t realise I was second," Bardet said after the stage, "I’m happy that we had a bit of success and a good finish today, it was nice. Since 2018 I haven’t had good feelings for the GC but the last climb has been really hard but I’m here now and I wanted to do the Giro.
"Of course, trying to follow Bernal is difficult so I took my own pace. It was a hard pace and Bernal then went, I couldn’t follow, after a few metres I decided I was going to do my own pace. Of course, it’s another hard week coming and let’s hope it’s as good as today."
The race now is poised for a tight battle for the podium spots in the final week of the Giro d'Italia as the riders get a chance to rest tomorrow (May 25) on the second and final rest day of the race.
Twice a podium finisher at the Tour de France, Bardet now sits seventh, but just 1-22 behind Hugh Carthy (EF-Nippo) in third place overall. He is 5-02 down on Bernal.
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Hi, I'm one of Cycling Weekly's content writers for the web team responsible for writing stories on racing, tech, updating evergreen pages as well as the weekly email newsletter. Proud Yorkshireman from the UK's answer to Flanders, Calderdale, go check out the cobbled climbs!
I started watching cycling back in 2010, before all the hype around London 2012 and Bradley Wiggins at the Tour de France. In fact, it was Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck's battle in the fog up the Tourmalet on stage 17 of the Tour de France.
It took me a few more years to get into the journalism side of things, but I had a good idea I wanted to get into cycling journalism by the end of year nine at school and started doing voluntary work soon after. This got me a chance to go to the London Six Days, Tour de Yorkshire and the Tour of Britain to name a few before eventually joining Eurosport's online team while I was at uni, where I studied journalism. Eurosport gave me the opportunity to work at the world championships in Harrogate back in the awful weather.
After various bar jobs, I managed to get my way into Cycling Weekly in late February of 2020 where I mostly write about racing and everything around that as it's what I specialise in but don't be surprised to see my name on other news stories.
When not writing stories for the site, I don't really switch off my cycling side as I watch every race that is televised as well as being a rider myself and a regular user of the game Pro Cycling Manager. Maybe too regular.
My bike is a well used Specialized Tarmac SL4 when out on my local roads back in West Yorkshire as well as in northern Hampshire with the hills and mountains being my preferred terrain.
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