Ronchamp (France) (AFP)

Like the coronation of Tadej Pogacar, the youth took power over this Tour de France, that of confirmation for some nuggets, of revelation for others.

Small revolution for the late-maturing sport that is traditionally cycling.

Pogacar of course, but also Marc Hirschi, Daniel Martinez and Lennard Kämna: the Tour de France - before arriving in Paris - has four stage winners under 25 years old.

This is as much as in the five previous editions combined and the illustration of a fundamental movement in cycling.

"We have been observing a shift in the age of maturity for several years. It's clear and clear," confirms the performance director of the AG2R La Mondiale team, Jean-Baptiste Quiclet.

Beyond the symbolic limit of 25 years adopted for the white jersey of the best youngster, the exception on the 2020 Tour was rather the victory of riders close to their thirties: only six over 26 years old raised their arms on the twenty stages contested so far.

“Not so long ago, a standard professional career stretched between 24 years and 34 years. Now, the range is rather 20-30 years. The standard is rejuvenation,” describes Jean-Baptiste Quiclet who , faced with this phenomenon, "try to find reasons".

- Globalization of cycling -

"Between Evenepoel, Pogacar and even Bernal who is still very young ... It promises. There is a sacred generation", whispered Pinot before the Tour de France.

Precocity has always existed - Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi or Laurent Fignon all won a Grand Tour before they were 24 - but it was reserved for a few.

Since then, the "globalization of cycling" has made it possible to "detect talents in more countries", points out the AG2R coach as the first explanation.

The multiplication of development teams is another.

And more generally the structuring of intermediate teams: "Even they have technicians, training structures, nutritionists", lists Jean-Baptiste Quiclet.

An opinion shared by Samuel Bellenoue, the coach of the best Frenchman of this Tour, Guillaume Martin (11th in the general classification).

"Today, amateurs no longer have much to envy the pros thanks to the dissemination of training methods, he judges. They have all the information on preparation for the WorldTour level."

So that on arrival in the professional world, the step is much lower than before for these young wolves who worry some riders in the peloton.

- Room for improvement ?

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“Will they have less room for improvement than us ?, Thibaut Pinot wondered before the Tour. Or are these phenomena that will continue to progress like us until the age of 28? do not know".

"I find it hard to imagine, or they will finish all the races ten minutes early," noted the French climber.

A scenario to be ruled out for Samuel Bellenoue: "They mature faster but we can ask ourselves the question of how long they will last. They are already at the maximum at 21 years old and are going a little faster than what is capable. 'organism "at their age.

"We saw what happened to Egan Bernal," he observes.

Even before his retirement, the Colombian, who became the youngest post-war Tour winner last year, struggled this year without his team having much explanation to offer, if not a back pain which made him leave the Dauphiné prematurely.

He was playing his third Tour de France at 23.

© 2020 AFP