For a long time, Romain Bardet played with the thought of soing the Giro d'Italia in 2017 but he has been unable to convince his team about that idea. AG2R La Mondiale prefers to have its leader in the Tour de France which is also his main goal in 2017.

"As with past seasons, the Tour de France will be the objective with the highest priority for the season," he said. "In coming to that decision, we had a serious discussion with the team management and my coach to talk about the stakes involved and to put everything into perspective.

"The route for this upcoming edition is very interesting, taking in the five main mountain ranges in France. It will include strategic time trials, and perhaps will offer an element of surprise by including fewer of the high mountain passes. The Tour de France is of course the main objective. I am not really thinking in terms of targeted numbers or placings, but in quality of performance. I know that my second place from last season will generate high expectations, but I am not going to get fixated on that. 

"What is certain is that I will not be participating in the Giro d’Italia, which I considered doing for a time. I want to discover the Italian race in particular, but it proved more interesting to us, for the immediate future, to choose a program that will resemble, in broad strokes at least, the sort of program I’ve followed in previous seasons. 

"Considering the rest of the year, there will certainly be other highlights like Liège-Bastogne-Liège, for which I feel a real attachment, as well as week-long stage races like Paris-Nice, the Tour of the Basque Country, and the Critérium du Dauphiné. Winning some stages, and trying to wear and defend a leader’s jersey in one of those races would also be a great challenge.

"The exact date for my return to racing has not yet been established.”

Manager Vincent Lavenu explained the decision further.

“Romain wanted to participate in the Giro, so this was not a decision to take lightly. We took into account a number of parameters, and our team, Romain, his coach and AG2R LA MONDIALE took part in the discussion.

"The best solution was to go forward with a traditional program. The 2017 Tour de France suits Romain’s qualities, and we will support him so that he can arrive at the start in the best condition possible. He also would like to discover the Tour of the Basque Country, which is a difficult race where he can make full use of his aggressive temperament.”

Domenico Pozzovivo and Alexandre Geniez are likely to lead Ag2r in the Giro.

Romain Bardet's most important races in the first part of the year

March 5th-12th : Paris-Nice (France)
April 3rd-8th : Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco (Spain)
April 23rd : Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Belgium)
April 25th-30th : Tour de Romandie (Switzerland)
June 4th-11th : Critérium du Dauphiné (France)
July 1st-23rd : Tour de France