For a few moments on stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia, it looked like Romain Bardet might be on his way to the result he and much of the cycling world have been dreaming of: a stage victory in his final ever Grand Tour.
The Frenchman had made it into the day's early breakaway, looking like one of the strongest on the Passo del Tonale and the Passo del Mortirolo, always holding firm in the lead group even as others fell away.
Then, on the final climb, with the GC group getting dauntingly close, Bardet went on the attack, taking the lead of the race, looking like only a few kilometres of climbing and a demon descent would stand between him and a win.
But, as the breakaway has suffered several times already in this race, the surging GC group and their attacks saw Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) sweep up Bardet. He stuck with them over the top of the climb, but some brave descending – 'criminel' the word Bardet used in French – saw Del Toro power away to win.
Even when caught, Bardet still thought he could win, but ultimately it wasn't to be.
"I rode well, even though we didn't have a big gap. And then even when I was caught, I thought it was still possible," he said at the finish. "I'd studied the route by heart and I knew it was really technical and that if I could be the first to take the left-hand turn with 200m to go, then I would win.
"But, voilà, Carapaz lost the wheel [of Del Toro] on the descent, honestly Del Toro was going like a madman. The road started to get a bit slippery, and the lines he was taking were really impressive. So he took five metres on us, and then it was over."
In the end, Bardet took second on the stage, pipping Carapaz to the line, just four seconds down on Del Toro, 13 years his junior and celebrating his first Grand Tour win.
After a long day in the breakaway, and indeed a long fight in this whole Giro that included a crash in the first week, second was not the result Bardet was hoping for on stage 17, but he had no complaints at the finish.
"I have no regrets, I raced smart. I truly did everything I could, so there's nothing to feel sorry about and I'm proud of how I'm riding in my final Grand Tour," he said.
The team's DS Matt Winston echoed that sentiment, also celebrating a day that saw Picnic PostNL's GC leader Max Poole move up to 11th, continuing his steady rise up the rankings.
"In the end, it was second on the day, but we can't be anything but proud of how Romain rode," Winston said. "In the GC group, we also did a really nice race with Max, the guys supported him and then he showed he still has good legs. We'll keep pushing."
The team may well keep pushing, but days on which Bardet could take that fairytale final Grand Tour win are becoming fewer, with really only stage 19 and 20 possibilities, and even those days are swinging towards being GC days.
Still, Bardet still has one more road race on his calendar before his planned retirement, the Critérium du Dauphiné starting next weekend, and the form he's showing in this final week of the Giro can only bode well for his next hope: a final win on home soil.
Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our 2025 Giro d'Italia coverage. Our team on the ground will bring you all the breaking news, reports, analysis and more from every stage of the Italian Grand Tour. Find out more.
