An incredible popular fervor in Denmark, a historic mountain stage completed at Granon, a double title holder defeated with panache, and above all an intensity of madness at each stage... This Tour de France was a real success, considers its director Christian Prudhomme , who gave an interview to AFP on the eve of the arrival on the Champs-Elysées.
What feeling dominates at the end of the Tour?
That of having experienced a Tour de France where something strong has happened almost every day since the start and the exceptional fervor of Denmark.
With a crazy stage at the Col du Granon, one of the most beautiful mountain stages I have seen in thirty years.
Has a shift been taken in the way of running?
It doesn't disconnect anymore, it's very impressive and it shows on the general average of the Tour de France with attacks very early, very far.
We felt for a few years that the so-called transition stages were disappearing.
There, it's even stronger, something happens in all the stages, a first hour run at very high speed, often with favorites and teammates of favorites in the breakaways, a completely new way of racing.
What consequences do you draw from this for the routes of the next Tours?
It's too early to tell.
You never know what will happen a year later.
It all depends on the runners who are at the start.
This year, we had a first week drawn for the punchers with three names.
Finally, more than ever we had Wout van Aert, but Mathieu van der Poel was only the shadow of himself and unfortunately Julian Alaphilippe was not there at all.
And yet, we had an absolutely crazy first week.
In Longwy, we imagined Tadej Pogacar even stronger than last year, crushing the Tour de France, and then that's not what happened.
Given the toughness of the race, do you foresee a slightly less difficult Tour in the coming years?
The difficulty of the Tour de France is partly related to the course but the other part, perhaps a little more important than the first, is the way the riders race.
We have a tired peloton but we are going at 50 km/h for the first hour of each stage.
I'm always wary of very quick right or left helm moves.
For fifteen years, we have been working to try to give the most interesting course possible.
In recent years it has worked, sometimes it doesn't work like in 2012 or 2018, but the philosophy of the course remains the same.
Is it excessive to say that the great man of the Tour is first and foremost the green jersey Wout van Aert?
I think it's a bit excessive, even if Wout van Aert is exceptional.
How far can he go?
An inspired Wout van Aert, with Julian Alaphilippe and Mathieu van der Poel in the first week of the Tour de France, can, as we know today, create gaps that would count a fortnight later.
He is an essential part of the Tour, like Tadej Pogacar, whom I find grown up in defeat.
He never stopped attacking, for the pleasure of the game, of the bike.
Did he magnify Vingegaard's victory?
Without a doubt.
On the evening of the Granon, I saw his face on the podium.
He was exactly the same as the day before.
Our teams have told me that when he met the cadets and juniors who do the first or last kilometers of the stages, he always had a word for them, which is not necessarily the case for all champions.
We often say "Tell me who you beat, I'll tell you who you are".
The answer for Vingegard is quite satisfactory and it is thanks to Pogacar.
There has been very little talk about doping this year on the Tour…
The fight against cheating in all its forms must always continue, never let up.
In cycling, we ask the question that we would not ask in other disciplines.
We must obviously remain attentive and I have no doubt that the International Cycling Union (UCI) is.
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Tour de France 2022
Cycling
Sport
Christian Prudhomme
Wout van Aert
Jonas Vingegaard
Tadej Pogacar