ANALYSIS: Are time trials in danger of extinction? Find out how much time trials in grand tours have changed in the last 30 years
Cycling
To this day, time trials are still important when it comes to deciding the overall classification in grand tours. It doesn't take much thought to come up with examples. For example, Jonas Vingegaard in the 2023 Tour de France, or Primoz Roglic on Monte Lussari in the Giro of the same year.
However, it is also fair to say that time trials are no longer what they were in the past. In the past, riders endured much bigger challenges as time trials were much longer than they are now.
Thanks to the compilation of X user Jordi Escrihuela, we can compare the kilometers of time trials ridden in 1995 and those that will be ridden 30 years later, in 2025.
In the 3 grand tours of the 1995 season, the following distances were covered in time trials:
- Giro d'Italia 1995: 3 time trials with 104 km in total.
- Tour de France 1995: 4 time trials (one team time trial) with a total of 178.4 km.
- Vuelta a España 1995: 3 time trials with 89.6 km in total.
Now, the data of the 3 races in 2025:
- Giro d'Italia 2025: 2 time trials with 42.3 km in total.
- Tour de France 2025: 2 time trials with 44 km in total.
- Tour of Spain 2025: 2 time trials (one for teams) with 26 km in total.
As can be seen, the difference is eye opening. Many defend the new trend of shorter time trials for the general interest of the spectator, as new followers of the sport tend not to like time trials. In the end, you can't please everyone, and something as decisive as time trials cannot lose so much importance.
Winners of the 1995 time trials
As an added bonus, I thought it was a good idea to remember who won each of the above-mentioned time trials in 1995, comparing them with the winner of the general classification, showing how important they were at that time.
GIRO D'ITALIA 1995 - Overall winner: Tony Rominger.
- Stage 2 - Individual time trial (19 km): Tony Rominger.
- Stage 10 - Individual time trial (42 km): Tony Rominger.
- Stage 17 - Individual time trial (47 km): Tony Rominger.
*Note: Tony Rominger won the overall with 4 stage victories, 3 of them in the time trials.
TOUR DE FRANCE 1995 - Overall winner: Miguel Induráin.
- Prologue - Individual time trial (7.3 km): Jacky Durand.
- Stage 3 - Team time trial (67 km): Gewiss-Ballan.
- Stage 8 - Individual time trial (54 km): Miguel Induráin.
- Stage 19 - Individual time trial (46.5 km): Miguel Induráin.
*Note: Miguel Induráin won that Tour with only 2 stage victories, both in time trials.
VUELTA A ESPAÑA 1995 - Overall winner: Laurent Jalabert
- Prologue - Individual time trial (7 km): Abraham Olano.
- Stage 7 - Individual time trial (41 km): Abraham Olano.
- Stage 20 - Individual time trial (41.6 km): Abraham Olano.
*Note: Abraham Olano finished 2nd overall.
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment