He had run on Sunday to the aid of his friend Julian Alaphilippe after the serious fall that occurred in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Romain Bardet, miraculously unscathed, was very marked by this incident who put about thirty runners on the ground and caused serious injuries in the peloton.
The Frenchman had was one of the first to react, on his Twitter account : “I’m thinking of Julian but also of all those guys who were badly affected and who had to see their lives slip by when, at more than 70 km/h, the whistling of the peloton gave way to chaos, the sound of exploding equipment and screams. humans who arise.” The day after the events, Monday April 25, the Frenchman returned during a press conference on the lessons to be learned from the accident.
Franceinfo:sport: Have you heard from Julian Alaphilippe?
Romain Bardet : Yes, we exchanged by messages, I was relieved to hear from him. I know Julian very well, also outside the bike. My attitude towards him after the accident was normal. The opposite would have been a surprise.
What was your state of mind after the accident?
Julian had fallen below and I was the only one to see him. I acted on instinct, I didn’t think about the competition. I was a little confused. After the accident, II didn’t know if I wanted to get back on the bike. I stopped for a moment on the side. My team (Team DSM) totally supported me. It’s almost a miracle that I come out undamaged. I remember William Bonnet in the wall of Huy on the 2015 Tour de France who had fallen at full speed, and the time it took him to come back (the FDJ rider had suffered a fracture of the second cervical vertebra). When such a big accident happens at the front of the pack, there’s not much you can do to avoid it. At the end of the race, I felt both sad and lucky. Forcement, jand didn’t wake up with a big smile this morning.
— Romain Bardet (@romainbardet) April 25, 2022
In the aftermath of the accident, you called for more responsibility on the part of the riders. Has it become a necessity?
It is complicated to find quick solutions to these situations that we sees every race. We know that our sport involves risks, and I don’t want to give lessons to anyone. I also make mistakes, movements that can endanger other runners. But maybe sometimes you shouldn’t take so many risks. We are in an increasingly competitive environment, everyone is very strong in the peloton, and fighting for positions is even more decisive. We all want to be up front to win. So when two riders want the same place, it can lead them to make desperate decisions and carry the whole peloton in their fall. Nobody wants to brake but at a certain point, if you want more safety, you have to be reasonable and accept the position you have.
Have you talked about it between runners?
We discuss it, I spoke about it this morning with Philippe Gilbert (the Belgian rider of Lotto-Soudal), very involved in the safety of the riders. He tries to get things done. All the runners knew the course and knew that the road was bad here. It’s not just the attitude of the riders that comes into play, there was probably also a change in the surface which meant that it didn’t go through and that they got stuck. It’s multifactorial. The layout of the courses also matters, even if big falls can happen in a straight line on a sprint with plenty of room. Today’s cycling is a high-tech sport. The bikes are more efficient, faster. Everyone anticipates turns better and brakes later thinking they are in control. At high speeds like that, you can see that’s not the case.
Did you see the accident again?
I didn’t review the crash, I don’t believe there is any footage of the crash itself. Even if I’m curious to understand what happened exactly, these are not images that we want to see again.