AG2R La Mondiale leader Romain Bardet appears to have regained his old climbing and stage racing legs in this year's Tour de France, as the Frenchman, who finished second in the 2016 Tour and third the following year, looked to make up for last year's disappointment as he moved into fourth overall on Saturday He then rode strongly on Sunday's stage 9 to hold on to his fourth place overall, as if to make up for last year's disappointment.

After a strong ride on Saturday's stage 8 between Cazères-sur-Garonne and Roudanvillers to move up to fourth overall, the 29-year-old finished eighth in stage 9 in Larence, just 11 seconds behind the first five riders: winner Tadey Pogachar (UAE Team Emirates), new race leader Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma), Sunweb's Marc Hirsch, defending champion Eoghan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), and Bahrain McLaren's Mikel Landa.

Bardet called it "the best day of the week" and expressed further confidence that he had perhaps rediscovered his old self by stating that he was "optimistic for the future."

He is still fourth overall, 30 seconds behind Roglic and two seconds behind Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) and EF Pro Cycling's Rigoberto Uran (fifth and sixth, respectively).

"It was marginal, but I had the legs to compete with the top guys," Bardet said in a team press release Sunday evening. But at the finish I was 11 seconds behind."

"We [the chase group] worked well together, but it must have been good for morale to be able to bridge to the lead group. Today was our best day of the week, so I'm optimistic for the future."

These comments are in stark contrast to Bardet's race last year, when his compatriot Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) was eliminated from contention for the yellow jersey on Saturday's stage 8, a major blow after a thigh injury forced him to retire from last year's race after a strong showing. He was forced to retire from last year's race after a strong season due to a thigh injury.

Last year, Bardet did not have the legs to contend for the GC, but he targeted and won the polka-dot jersey as the best climber of the 2019 Tour. Ahead of this year's Tour, Bardet said he would aim for a stage win, but even though he is in fourth place overall, he must be worth a podium finish.

However, Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), third overall, 2.1 seconds behind Bardet and 28 seconds behind Roglic, is arguably the Frenchman with the most potential, despite his relative inexperience compared to Bardet and Pinot.

Meanwhile, Bardet's AG2R teammate Benoit Cosnefrois continues to hold this year's "mountains" jersey and continues to capture the attention of the French public. On Monday, the team will travel to the west coast of France to enjoy a rest day in the Charente-Maritime department.

"Today (Sunday) I got another point. I'm proud and happy to come back from the Pyrenees with this jersey."

With Peters also winning stage 8 on Saturday, AG2R's 2020 Tour de France is turning out to be as successful as they had hoped.