Few stages for sprinters and pure climbers in difficulty with the big names. The last Tour de France It was a nice crossroads for sprinters and pure grimpeurs. Once upon a time, there were ten days of "flat" sections, and the Grande Boucle became a sprinters' festival, but perhaps that was even too much. Today, however, the routes are filled with difficulties, steep sections, and cobblestones. Think of the first stages, with the battles between Pogacar and Van der Poel, or Healey's breakaways. On the other hand, riders lenny martinez e Valentin Paret Peintre, excellent on the climbs, had to move up to avoid being crushed by the men in the general classification. We therefore wonder what future there is at the Tour for these two types of cyclists.
For this reasoning we involved David Bramati, sports director of Soudal-Quick Step. The “Brama” had in the running both the pure sprinter, Tim Merlier, and the climber Paret-Peintre. Just in those days, Thierry Gouvenou, ASO's route manager, for example, had said that for reasons of television audience share and attention, they were considering eliminating or limiting flat stages as much as possible.
Davide, so how do you see the future for these two very particular and specific categories?
The day Gouvenou gave that interview, there had been an unusual stage with strong headwinds and therefore less racing. Furthermore, the previous stages had been tackled at high speed and there had been a "relaxation" day, but in my opinion, sprint stages and sprinters will always be there. Sprinters are part of cycling and its history. Maybe there will be some sprints with different endings or with some breaks, because in the end maybe they will also look at safety in order to arrive with smaller or more stretched groups. However, it's right to have sprints even in the Grand Tours; in my opinion, you can't have three demanding weeks.
But it's also true that there's a significant increase in climbs, with many sprints now arriving after 2.000-2.500 meters of elevation gain. Will the sprinter's physique change over the years? Will he be a bit less of a 2.000-watt sprinter and a bit more of a climber?
The sprinter will certainly have to be increasingly prepared to tackle certain climbs. I'm thinking, for example, of the second stage that Milan won: it wasn't an easy route. We were at 2.000 meters, perhaps the climbs were a bit far from the finish, but the sprinter certainly struggled. And indeed, they had fallen away. Certainly, in the future, sprinters will have to adapt if the courses become increasingly difficult: they will not only have to maintain explosiveness and speed, but they will also have to improve on climbs.
Clear…
But I'm going back, but I don't think it will change much, at least I hope so. In a Grand Tour, the altitude gain is already really high, putting even more of it in to have fewer sprints seems to me to take our sport down other paths. It's already very hard, it's getting harder and despite everything the speeds being reached are crazy.
Let's take your Merlier, for example, you've been working on it for years now: have you noticed a transformation in it?
Tim has improved his climbing skills over the last two years and hasn't lost his explosiveness. his speed. Last year he won the Rome stage at the Tour of Italy, so the last one, overcoming the big mountains, this year finished the Tour de France… In the last two years I see him improving on climbs without having lost his drive.
Was there a stage in the last Tour where Tim couldn't hold on to the sprint?
Yes, but not because of the difference in altitude. I think about Milan's first victory. That day Merlier punctured 10 kilometers from the finish, and with today's speeds, you pay the price.He changed bikes and came back, but he'd spent too much. There were those last three kilometers where you turned right, the road went uphill, there was a roundabout, from there you went downhill at full speed, and then two more roundabouts before the last kilometer, which was slightly uphill. There, with 500-600 meters to go, he paid for his effort to get back into position to contest the sprint.
Let's move on to the climbers. You guys at Soudal-Quick Step did a good job managing Paret-Peintre. But one wonders if a climber will ever be able to GC again at the Tour de France...
I am convinced that in this cycling If a pure climber decides not to rank, it's better. You mentioned Martinez and Valentin, emblems of this category. We never started out with the idea of aiming for the polka-dot jersey; we all came with another objective, which you know well (to finish in the standings with Remco Evenepoel, ed.) and consequently the plans have changed. On the day of Ventoux, joining the breakaway was important and not easy: the first two hours had already been done at 52-53 km/h. For someone of his weight it was important to have teammates close by, as in fact happened. I think that for a true climber the goal depends above all on what the team wants.
That?
I think about the help in holding the position: whether he needs help or whether he should help. Whether he can rest during the flat stages or whether he should hold back. And back to the issue of ranking or not. I think it's better if he's free and aims for the stages. Today if you are in the top ten of the standings and you go on the run it is not easy for them to let you goIf you're in twentieth place, it's easier.
So in the future he will be destined either to be a real big player or to drop out of the rankings?
It's not a given, it's not easy to answer: In the end, how many pure climbers were actually in the Tour group? Let's stick to those two names. In the Ventoux stage, as mentioned, they rode the first two hours on the flat at an average speed of over 50 km/h, and it's not a given that athletes with those characteristics will stay in the group. At the Tour, all the stages were done at crazy speeds and they certainly spend more than a 60-63 kilo climber, that's the difference. But they're certainly riders who, when the going gets tough, show that they still have something extra. In the case of Martinez and Paret-Peintre, they're still young; we'll have to wait and see.
So in your opinion, who is more at risk in the future at the Tour de France: the sprinter or the pure climber?
It's a trick question and not easy to answer. For now, I'd keep cycling exactly as it is, because it's truly spectacular cycling, raced at a high level. We'll have to figure out what will happen in a few years when these three or four absolute dominators are no longer around. Perhaps other scenarios will unfold. I believe that certain flat stages and certain riders will always be there; they are part of cycling.
And the climbers? Will the 50-55 kilo climbers, the Pozzovivos of the moment, still be here?
It will depend on what the teams want. But it also depends on the rider. Valentin, for example, despite weighing 52 kilos in Paris, in that rain and on the cobblestones, finished seventeenth.: that's quite a feat on that course for someone like him. So somehow he knows how to be competitive on other terrains too.
