In 2019, the excursion de france changed its guidelines so that teams consisted of eight riders in preference to nine. Christian prudhomme, director of the tour, justified the selection with the aid of citing safety problems (fewer riders, consequently much less risk of crashes) and the dynamism of the race (fewer riders, consequently fewer locked-in ranges). The change became first of all proposed in 2017 by using the worldwide biking union (uci), and other principal races which includes the tour d’italie (the giro) et the excursion d’espagne (the vuelta) additionally followed in shape. Even as the exchange became debatable, primary carrying occasions frequently modify their guidelines to enhance protection, spectacle, equity or possible monetary pursuits; components 1 is a conventional example.
Slipping interest from spectators but also a rebound
Commentators and visitors of the tour de france are entranced with its storied beyond, and plenty of assert that it became higher “earlier than” – there was extra uncertainty, extra spectacle, fewer locked-in races. The concept is that biking epics of the beyond have been because technological had not but taken over from the human element, and the placing black-and-white pictures of the classic battles deliver the idea domestic. Truth seeker roland barthes called the excursion de france a “present day fantasy” and related it to the importance of together held ideals constructed within the past. Era including radio headsets that relay orders from group managers and components that measure riders’ strength are frequently accused of dulling the excursion de france. A decade in the past, we have been already listening to the effect of radios on the path of the races, and the controversy is a ways from over. At the same time as the excursion’s viewership has been regularly falling in current years, the 2021 edition had an universal target market of forty two. 4 million, a report. The creation of half of-degrees, time bonuses, the creation of different jerseys, intermediate sprints and other measures have all been taken to make the race greater dynamic, the ultimate editions of which had been gained via slovenian rider tadej pogacar.
The value of the yellow jersey
For the sake of consistency, our analysis will take as its start line the 1969 excursion, when branded teams again, greater than five decades’ well worth of records. Over the past 50 years, the common pace of the race has elevated (these days, just below 41 km/h) at the same time as the whole distance has reduced. The gadget is also higher, the teams are greater established, and the coaching of the riders is even extra critical. The proof is in that the drop-out fee inside the tour de france has been falling – more than ever, the presence of group contributors is important proper to the cease. The subsequent discern indicates the percentage of very last drop-out rate and the average very last velocity.
Drop-out rate and average speed in the Tour de France between 1969 and 2019
We can also see that there is a clear decrease in the average gaps between the final winner and the runners-up. The following figure shows, for the last five decades, the gap between the winner and his runner-up and between the winner and the third.
Could this be a sign of a race that is becoming more and more competitive? One should be wary of such an interpretation, as the gaps can be controlled while minimising the risk, thanks to the work of the team members who control the race. So what objective criteria allow us to think that a Tour de France is truly disputed and potentially interesting to follow.
The 2010s, the era of “controlled” Tours
Based on the data collected on the website procyclingstats.com, we made a series of measurements for each Tour concerning the number of different yellow jersey wearers, the number of days the final winner held the jersey, the number of the stage that saw the last yellow jersey change hands, and then, as seen above, the final gaps between the first three.
An analysis allows us to position and rank the 51 Tours de France since 1969 as shown in the following diagram. (Note that while the US rider Lance Armstrong’s seven victories were withdrawn due to doping, the data has been retained for statistical analysis
