Oliver Naesen is one of the straightest talkers in the professional peloton. "When I say I'm feeling good, I really mean I'm feeling good," said the Belgian at the end of stage 6 of the Critérium du Dauphiné, a day that was tinged with regret.
The problem? He was in the breakaway but, with 50 kilometres to go, his AG2R La Mondiale rode hard on the front of the peloton ahead of the all-important Mont du Chat. They were working to tee up Romain Bardet for the hors-categorie ascent and white-knuckle descent to the finish, even if it meant that Naesen's lead was slashed.
The Belgian understood the rationale but clearly felt he was in a strong position to win the stage. As the last man standing from the break, caught by the GC riders just over a kilometre from the top of the climb, he probably had a point.
"It's easy to say so afterwards, but yes, I have regrets – the team do as well I think," Naesen told L'Equipe. "With a champion like Romain Bardet it's natural that his card is played. I'm not a climber so it wasn't me who was the leader for this stage. But when I say I'm feeling good, I really mean I'm feeling good.
"I understand that on a stage like that it's not easy to have confidence in a Classics rider when you have Bardet and [Pierre] Latour in the team. That's the decision, it's just a shame. I'm still new in the team, and maybe they don't yet know what it means when I say I'm feeling strong. When I say I'm feeling strong it means it's for the win."
Bardet and Naesen are sharing rooms together at the Dauphiné, and there will surely be discussions tonight, even if there's no suggestion that Naesen's regret spilled over into anger.
"We need to talk about it and we'll have a debrief this evening to see if it was the right call," acknowledged Bardet in front of a media scrum outside the team bus in La Motte-Servolex.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dauphine-ag2r-tactics-backfire-as-bardet-and-naesen-left-empty-handed/