On the opening day of the Vuelta, Team DSM-Firmenich could raise their hands in celebration of victory. The euphoria of the first day faded after the second stage. The team witnessed Oscar Onley abandon the race due to a fall and had to relinquish the red jersey to EF Education-EasyPost. Romain Bardet doesn’t hide his disappointment with the second stage: “It was a strange stage.”
“Very hectic. There was a lot of tension, and it was very slippery,” Romain Bardet describes the second stage of the Vuelta to Eurosport.
“It was very hectic in the suburbs of Barcelona. If you brake in the turn, you’ve already crashed. It was a strange stage, and that was partly due to the neutralization. For example, the teams fighting for classification wanted to stop the race, but we had to defend the red jersey.”
The French climber understands that Jumbo-Visma, among others, wanted to accelerate the pace, but his team had different interests. “It was really slippery. Everyone got nervous and wants to keep their leader at the front. But the organization kept the time bonuses, so it was like two races in one. Although I wouldn’t want to do it again.”
In the end, Bardet was the first rider from his team to cross the line in eleventh place. As a result, the team not only lost the fallen Oscar Onley but also the red jersey. “Despite the race being tough, it was a good race in the end. I felt good on the final climb and gave it a try. It almost felt like a classic today. Unfortunately, it was too heavy. Ultimately, we didn’t expect that. We lost Oscar today,” concludes the captain of Team DSM-Firmenich.