Paris (AFP)

Romain Bardet pleads for an awareness in order to "review the models (of cycling) which are no longer environmentally desirable", from Australia where he is preparing for the opening of the World Tour in a country plagued by gigantic fires.

"At some point, we will have to stop being individualistic, to think only of our career over a horizon of two, three, five years," said climber of the AG2R La Mondiale team on Monday, contacted by phone at Adelaide where he moved on December 28 to prepare for the Tour Down Under, the first race of the WorldTour season, scheduled from January 21 to 27.

"I don't have the answers. But we see that the situation is getting worse every year," he continued.

Are mentalities ready to change after the ecological drama experienced by the Australians? "I imagine that it will not have an immediate effect, answers Bardet, but I hope that everyone is asking questions. Each at his level has to wonder about the trace that we leave, in the way of to travel, to practice, to consume. We cannot be indignant at the conditions we meet now without changing our daily life. "

On a personal level, the Frenchman had some embarrassment to congratulate himself on the "very good conditions" of his stay and the reception received: "We are aware that riding a bike and training is not the priority when we see the consequences of what is happening and the echoes at the international level. "

- "No contraindication" for training -

On the spot, in Adelaide, Bardet and his two teammates, Clément Chevrier and Axel Domont, were not really bothered by the fires and the smoke given off by the gigantic braziers: "The consequences of the fires are very moderate compared to other territories, especially in the east. The fires have been completely brought under control. There are no contraindications in the region where we are driving, contrary to what may have happened in Sydney or Melbourne. "

As for the heat, the Auvergnat relativizes: "We had two days when the thermometer slightly exceeded 40 degrees. The rest of the time, these were temperatures typical of a normal summer in the south of France, 30- 32 degrees, we are not at the stage where some years, stages had to be shortened because of the heat. In what we explored, vineyards burned, some forests also but that remains a minority. don't believe that you are driving in a blaze that has just died out. "

Bardet, mounted twice on the final podium of the Tour de France (2nd in 2016, 3rd in 2017), must participate for the first time in the Tour Down Under, the first race of the WorldTour season in the Adelaide region.

© 2020 AFP