Strong EF performance keeps Baudin in yellow at the Dauphiné, but for how long? 'It might just give me wings'

32 seconds. That was the lead Alex Baudin had to defend against his closest rivals at Tuesday’s Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes team time trial. He succeeded, thanks to a tremendous performance by his team, EF Education-EasyPost. How far can the Frenchman go in that yellow jersey?

With riders like Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley just over half a minute behind, it looked like it was going to be a tough race on paper, but Baudin was confident going in. “Of course, but you should be congratulating my teammates rather than me,” the yellow jersey wearer told IDL Pro Cycling and others after the stage.

EF Education-Easypost did a fantastic job on Tuesday, as the Frenchman observed. 'They really gave it their all. I only had to ride 800 meters today. So I had it pretty easy, even though it was really tough. They all sacrificed themselves and rode a truly amazing time trial. We all felt that it was going really fast, so it was really nice to see it from the inside.'

For Baudin, losing the leader’s jersey was simply not an option. “The very fact that we would keep this jersey really gave us some extra motivation. We had a really strong team for a team time trial to begin with. I think the guys proved that today. They were really, really, strong.” The American team ultimately finished third, 29 seconds behind stage winner Visma | Lease a Bike.

So the logical question is: how far does Baudin think he can go in the yellow jersey? "The next two days should be good for keeping the yellow jersey," he says, referring to Wednesday and Thursday’s stages. "After that, the finish at Crest-Volland is pretty tough, but that’s right at my home. If I still have the jersey by then, that might just give me wings.”

Because keeping the yellow jersey is still the main goal for EF and the Frenchman. “Of course. We’re not holding back. We’ll see how far I can take it. It’s an opportunity to wear this jersey. Now we’re going to enjoy it and give it our all. We’re not putting any pressure on ourselves,” said the rider from Albertville.

Author: Gauthier Ribeiro