Bardet revives, but Jakobsen faces a bigger problem as sprint star struggles to keep up in the Giro

The Frenchman lost 57 seconds on the first day of the opening weekend and even 1.20 minutes to day winner Tadej Pogacar on the climb to Oropa the following day. Despite this rocky start, Bardet didn’t suffer much from the stomach issues he had mentioned in an interview with IDLProCycling.com. He navigated the sprint days well and showed improvement by attacking in the final phase of the gravel stage on day six. On Friday, he secured a commendable eighteenth place in a 40.6-kilometer time trial.

"I feel better each day and am happy with the result," Bardet said in a press release from dsm-Firmenich PostNL. Perfect timing, with the mountain stage to Prati di Tivo on Saturday and another challenging ride to Naples on Sunday. "We can be pleased," concluded team director Matt Winston. "It was a very good time trial from Romain, thanks to the hard work we've put into this discipline over the last few years. It's now paying off."

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It's certainly not all good news at Team dsm-Firmenich PostNL, which had hoped for a stage win in the first week. Fabio Jakobsen, accompanied by the strong lead-out Tobias Lund Andresen, came to Italy but ended up chasing the race on days three, four, and five. He was dropped on the climbs and consequently never had enough left to compete in the sprints. "It's a bit of a struggle. I'm doing my best, but it's really not good enough," the Dutch sprinter candidly told this website after his time trial on Friday.

Unlike others, Jakobsen didn't have physical issues in the first week, but he also hadn't found the form he had in the Tour of Turkey (where he won a stage). "That's how it goes sometimes, and it frustrates me. We need to look at it with the team, and ultimately it's elite sports, so when you're missing something, it seems like a lot. We would have liked to compete for the win, but we haven't really come close. It's not terribly bad, but it's also not good enough. It wasn't the plan to drop out so early each time, but then you need to be a bit lighter and able to pedal a bit harder. Right now, the balance is the opposite for me."

Nevertheless, the morale remains high. Jakobsen had Julius van den Berg with him throughout the first week, which helped. "Julius and I are great mates, and we know where we come from. We're just regular guys from the Netherlands, now riding in the Giro. It's not always fun and great, but we hoped it would be better. When I have to drop back, he stays with me, and we push through together. It helps when you're friends and can do it together. We also kept coming back in the finals, so it's not all bad. I feel good, recover well, but I'm just not fast enough. It's like there's a limit... We need to go back to the drawing board and maybe I need to become more of a cyclist and less of a sprinter. So far, this Giro has been a good week of training, and seeing how I've been riding, I could really use it."

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At dsm-Firmenich PostNL, it seems they must fully commit to supporting Bardet. Jakobsen does not sound very hopeful, and Gijs Leemreize confesses to IDLProCycling.com that he and sprinters plan B Lund Andresen are also not performing well. "Bram (Welten, ed.) already dropped out sick, and Tobias isn't feeling great either. For now, it hasn't progressed, and only Bram was really sick. If it stays that way, that's fine."

However, with his current condition, Leemreize won't be much help to Bardet. "My legs aren't great at the moment, so I hope to improve as the race goes on. Since Thursday, I haven't been feeling well and thought I was getting sick. The time trial turned out better than expected, and I could take it easy. I hope to get through the coming days well and be back to 100% after the rest day."

Leemreize is sticking with Bardet, who seems to be improving. "The mood has been good all week, although Romain had some stomach issues. Now he's better, and there are still many possibilities in the GC. At this moment, I have doubts about my Giro. I hope it improves, but you can’t afford to be unfit in a grand tour. If my legs are good, I'm excited for what’s to come, but I don't know that yet."