“Everybody stay calm, everybody stay calm.” No fire alarm was sounding inside the Palais des Congrès, nor was there a hint of an emergency of any sort. These were, in fact, the words of Christian Prudhomme, shortly after he’d revealed the route for the 2023 Tour de France.
The race director beamingly extolled the virtues of a parcours that takes in all five of France’s mountain ranges, hits a record for categorised climbs, and features headline acts like Puy de Dome and Col de la Loze. Those expecting the heavy helping of climbing to be balanced by a solid side order of time trialling, however, were left waiting and waiting, until the lights went up in the auditorium.
22 kilometres against the clock – an all-time low. Prudhomme attempted to play down this fact with reference to the 2015 Tour and its sole 14km opening individual time trial, but that fails to factor in the 28km team time trial later in the race. In terms of overall time trialling, there has never been less since the discipline first featured in 1934.
And so for all the peaks on the horizon, what was absent stood out the most. It’s what Prudhomme spent most of his time addressing in the ensuing media melée. The former journalist defended his position well, voicing a surprisingly frank opinion that effectively amounted to ‘it’s boring,’ and arguing that time trials don’t work in the modern age of the all-rounder.
The call for calm came when Prudhomme was set upon by a pair of Belgian reporters. His press officer was attempting to usher him to safety backstage, but they demanded to know why he hadn’t served up a route more amenable to their star, Remco Evenepoel. This was something of a national affront. Did he not want the world champion to race the Tour?
Prudhomme played this expertly.
“La Redoute, I don’t think was a time trial,” he said, referring to Evenepoel’s solo victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège this spring. “San Sebastian wasn’t a time trial. The World Championship wasn’t a time trial.”
“We’re waiting for him,” Prudhomme added, pointing out that Belgian five-time Tour winner Eddy Merckx only made his debut in 1969 at the age of 24 after three appearances at the Giro. “Let’s all stay calm, even you, stay calm. If he comes in 2024 at 24… remember Eddy Merckx, 1969… stay calm kids.”
What are they trying to achieve?
Beyond Evenepoel, there were justified question marks over how a Tour de France so light on time trialling looks, and, more…
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