Former WorldTour climber Romain Bardet was hospitalised this week after a heavy crash while descending Mont Ventoux on gravel, the Frenchman confirmed via social media on Friday 07 August 2026, casting fresh uncertainty over his season-defining goal of competing at the UCI Gravel World Championships.
Bardet, 35, was riding with his young son when he fell on the gravel tracks below the “Giant of Provence.” Emergency responders attended the scene and transported him to hospital.
He said the climb had been memorable, but joked that the gravel descent was rather less so, thanking the rescue crews and urging caution on both road and trail. He did not detail his injuries, though images shared online suggested injuries to his left arm and face.
Bardet won the mountains classification at the 2019 Tour de France and finished on the podium in two Grand Tours before retiring from road racing after the 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné to pursue professional gravel racing. He quickly established himself as one of the discipline’s most credible ex-road converts.
The timing stings: Bardet arrived at this setback in career-best gravel form. He opened his 2026 campaign by soloing to victory at RADL GRVL in McLaren Vale, Australia, in January, crossing the 127km finish line ahead of Cameron Jones and Alexey Vermeulen. A month later, he won the season-opening UCI Castellón Gravel Race in Spain on Saturday 22 February, riding solo over 97km and 2,500m of climbing in approximately 03:16:00, ahead of European champion Mads Würtz Schmidt. His second UCI Gravel World Series victory of the year came at the Monaco Gravel Race in April, a 120km course featuring 2,400m of climbing through the Mercantour mountains above Monaco.
His Factor Racing RCC team has yet to confirm a recovery timeline, but “several weeks of convalescence,” in Bardet’s own words, would significantly reduce his preparation time for the fifth edition of the UCI Gravel World Championships, to be held for the first time outside Europe in Nannup, Western Australia, on 10 and 11 October 2026.
Photo Credit: Roman Bardet
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