CUSANO MUTRI – It happens that a dozen or so kilometers from the finish Valentin Paret-Peintre and Romain Bardet let them talk to each other. In French of course. I'm right behind you. Andrea Bagioli. There is in front Jan Tratnik who continues to earn.
A sign. It's time. The two men run away. And the attack is a good one. It's now or never, otherwise the Slovenian would have gained too much.
Long ratio for the rider of the Decathlon-AG2R The World Championship, very long for that of the DSM-Firmenich. They are two climbers, they can afford it.
French on the attack
The youngest of the Frenchmen seems brighter. He's lively on the pedals. The other day we had been on the run with him towards Prato di Tivo. In the flagship, his sports director Cyril Dessel he approved that attack on the Gran Sasso.
“Good, it gives him confidence,” he said. Then as the UAE Emirates He was pulling, the group of big men was thinning out, and he was still there, a little surprised. Perhaps not even he imagined that the youngest Paret-Peintre was doing so well.
“It was amazing,” Valentin says with a hint of emotion and sincere eyes. “It’s incredible. My first victory as a professional and it's a stage in a major Giro. Among other things, with a great champion like Romain. The team car told me to keep an eye on him (like in Prati di Tivo, ed.)".
Dessel strategist
Today again on the run, this time Valentin Paret-Peintre hit the nail on the head. Once again masterfully managed by Dessel, who explained the finish and the immediate kilometres to him with precision.
«Cyril – Valentin continues – kept telling me to stay calm, that the climb was long, that I had to manage myself. However He also told me that the last three kilometers were the hardest. I knew that was the moment. I had to take advantage of those slopes. And after I started, he encouraged me. He said, 'Go, it's your moment.' 'You can do it.'"
Rising champion
Valentin Paret-Peintre is the son of a new generation of home-grown cyclists. Not only the Groupama-FDj in France it works well, too Decathlon-Ag2R La Mondiale, especially among the juniors, boasts a good youth team. And Valentin, like his brother Aurelien, is a homegrown champion. And his margins are wide.
«The goal was to break away – said Paret-Peintre – I knew we could win, but it wasn't easy. Especially in the first half with all that flat terrain. And in fact Touzé and Tronchon helped me a lot: they allowed me to save a lot of energy. But the whole team did a great job. The long climb, the right breakaway, the teammates, the good legs... it was a matter of many things coming together."
«I'm really happy. I prepared this well Tour of ItalyI did a high-altitude retreat for the first time in my career. I raised my level. I don't know if I'll want to aim for the overall in the future. We'll see. I like to be in the breakaway. I know that every year I want to focus heavily on one of the three Grand Tours: once the Giro, once the Tour, once a Vuelta, and then start again."
Here is Bardet
If Valentin Paret-Peintre is taken over by the podium boys, Romain Bardet can roll his bike towards the masseur, who awaits him with warm, dry clothes and a recovery drink.
Skinny, actually very thin: his ribs almost look like external bodies, Bardet changes calmly.
He's sorry but not disappointed. "I tried to anticipate," Bardet said, "because I wasn't feeling very well. In fact, my legs didn't feel good. But this happens after the day of rest, especially as we get older."
Words of a wise man
Meanwhile, he parades Aurelien Paret PeintreValentin's older brother and Romain's former partner. The two embrace.
A smile and Bardet hangs up: "True, we spoke with Valentin. We wanted to see how Bagioli was really doing. I told him we had to go because Tratink had a good lead. We needed to set a good pace. We worked well together. I knew the last few kilometers would be difficult for me; as I said, the feeling wasn't positive. Congratulations to Valentin, he performed well in his stages."
Finally before we say goodbye, Bardet is pointed out that he has recovered quite a bit in the general classification (now 7th at 4'57”)But he shrugs. He glosses over it entirely.He says he knows nothing about it. Superstition? Or is it the eternal doubt of stage racers whether to give up or hold on? It's clear that if he holds on, the contenders for the podium and the top positions will leave him no room. As we saw today with the pursuit of Bahrain-Victorious.
