Romain Bardet believed he could win last year's Giro d'Italia but was forced to abandon the race after two weeks due to illness.

Podium finishes at the 2016 and 2017 Tours sparked hopes that Bardet would become the first French winner since Bernard Hinault in 1985, but his best performances since then have been sixth place finishes in 2018 and 2022.

Bardet will return to the Tour in 2023, his third season with DSM, and said in the offseason that he hoped to emulate Geraint Thomas' approach last year. But despite the comfortable route, he admitted that a podium finish was the pinnacle of his ambition in July during the Taddei Pogachar era.

"Actually, I don't think about that anymore. I don't think about winning the Tour de France anymore," Bardet told L'Équipe (open in new tab).

"Last year in the Giro, I thought I could win. But in the Tour, I am no longer one of the favorites to win. I know I can beat Jai Hindley and Richard Kalapas (first and second in the 2022 Giro, editor's note) when they are at their best.

"But I'm done with Tadej Pogachar. It's easy. If one day I can drop him in the high mountains of the Tour, that would be great, but it's not a set idea."

Bardet will start the 2023 season on Friday at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var and will race next weekend's double header of the Ardèche and Drome Classics before racing from Paris to Nice. While Bardet has had the Giro as his goal for the past two years, the focus of the 2023 stage races will likely be the Tour.

The 32-year-old Bardet admitted that he is entering the final phase of his career. "I am aware that I am approaching the end," said Bardet, whose contract expires at the end of 2024. I am aware that I am approaching the end: a stage win in the Giro, a Grand Victory, and at least one win in the Tour GC.

"Podium if possible: I've finished sixth three times, but nobody cares about that.