End of career: Romain Bardet - stage wins, mountain jersey and many second places

Bardet joined AG2R La Mondiale in the WorldTour in 2012 at the age of 21. Two years after his switch, the then young Frenchman finished sixth in the Tour de France and won his first stage in the Tour of France a year later. At the 2016 Tour, Bardet managed to take second place in the overall classification with his stage win on the 19th stage to Saint-Gervais. At the end of the tour, he remained in second place - Romain Bardet never got any closer to his big goal of winning the Tour de France. The following year, he finished third in the Grand Boucle. He repeatedly emphasised that the feeling of having to win often prevented him from showing his full potential.

>> Giro d'Italia: Romain Bardet's last great chase

>> Peloton stands guard: Goosebumps farewell for Bardet at Dauphiné

World champion? Once again only just behind

Bardet also came very close to the world championship title. In 2018, he sprinted to the finish line in second place behind Alejandro Valverde on a course with over 5,000 metres of climbing. In the same year, he finished third in the Ardennes classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège and took the Tour de France mountains jersey in 2019. The switch to Team DSM in 2021 gave Bardet another boost. In the same year, he won a stage at the Tour of Spain and took overall victory at the Tour of the Alps in 2022, as well as sixth place at the Tour de France. At Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2024, the Frenchman was only beaten by dominator Tadej Pogačar and was able to fulfil a big dream by winning the first stage of the Tour of France: To wear the yellow jersey for once.