Paris (AFP)

Romain Bardet returns to Europe without ambition: the Tour of the Alpes-Maritimes and the Var, from Friday to Sunday, is only a stage for the leader of the AG2R La Mondiale team, who expects to "be worse than last year. "

QUESTION: What do you expect from this race?

ANSWER: "I am happy to resume competition, in Europe and especially in France, to find the heart of the team. I do not claim anything, I am really in recovery, it is my branding. The Tour Down Under (in Australia) was what I went for, but it took me a long time to get back into it when I got back to Europe. It was a little hard. I think I was a little worse than last year (2nd at Mont Faron and in the final ranking behind Thibaut Pinot, editor's note) when I had a denser February. "

Q: Is it late?

A: "I am not putting pressure on myself for the results, I am building the foundations for my season. It is a very ambitious calendar to have three peaks in form, at the Giro, at the Olympic Games and at the world championships. The goal is to make its ranges towards the first objective which is the Giro. This year, I have no particular expectation whereas Benoît (Cosnefroy, the other leader of the team, note) will be very strong on the first In view of Quintana’s demonstration on the Tour de La Provence, it will be difficult to fight. We know that Colombians are almost untouchable at the end of winter, I experienced this in Paris- Nice, and especially at the Tour of Catalonia (in 2019). Quintana, it's just super-impressive. But you have to keep a cool head about the summer. "

Q: It will be one of your rare appearances in France this year ...

A: "I am the first unfortunate not to run more in France, it is not a will, it is more a consequence of my WorldTour program. I am very happy to be on a February program 100% French It's the bike that I love. I saw the profile of the three days, it's great. The stage on Saturday is very hard and the climb of the Faron on Sunday is legendary. It's been five days Super race with the Boucles Drôme-Ardèche next week. These are not stereotypical races, it's ideal before the WorldTour. "

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