Cycling news - DFM rider Romain Bardet withdraws from French Tokyo Olympic Games team inclusion

ByAlexander Netherton

Published 09/06/2021 at 16:30 GMT

DFM's French rider Romain Bardet will now no longer be part of his country's Olympic squad for the road race in Tokyo. The decision means that he will be able to focus his energies on taking part in the Vuelta a Espana three weeks after the event in Japan. Bardet has already recorded seventh in the GC at the Giro d'Italia.

Romain Bardet has withdrawn from contention for the French team for the rearranged 2020 Tokyo Olympic games.

The news comes after Julian Alaphilippe also withdrew in May, and France now finds itself without another senior rider.

Bardet had hoped to challenge at the road race this summer in Tokyo, but he and his DSM team have elected to now skip the event.

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"After a three-way discussion between myself, my team, and Thomas, we have decided that I will not participate in the Games," Bardet said to L’Equipe.

"We have big objectives with DSM which await towards the end of the season, and it wasn’t possible to have a peak of form in Tokyo with that programme."

Bardet has a seventh-place finish at the Giro d’Italia this season, and is expected to focus on Vuelta a Espana this season. With the Olympic road race on July 24, it would leave just three weeks before the Spanish Grand Tour.

Alaphilippe and Bardet may not be the only absences, as Thibaut Pinot continues to suffer from a back injury. This may open up leading spots for David Gaudu and Gillaume Martin, with five riders to be taken in all.

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