"Time trials have the tendency to paralyze the race" - Prudhomme defense of lack of ITT kilometers in Tour de France route
Cycling
22 kilometers of time-trial in 1 Tour de France. Several stage-races throughout the year will top the number of the Grand Tour, and in addition those 22 kilometers will be quite mountainous. This has brought up lots of debate on the decision, and Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has justified the decisions made by the organization.
Talking to reporters after the presentation, Prudhomme said: "Time trials have the tendency to paralyze the race. I prefer to see the champions shoulder-to-shoulder from the first weekend. You all know that very well too. A shoulder-to-shoulder battle is much better than riders having their times taken one after the other."
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In a complete opposite to the Giro d'Italia, which will feature almost 70 mostly-flat kilometers, the Tour de France has created a route to be almost solely decided in the mountains. This will be to the favour of the pure climbers, and has likely taken into consideration the lack of gaps now emerging between the main stage-racers, most of which are time-trial specialists themselves (such as Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, etc).
The decision has had mixed reactions from within cycling's fan base. Whilst some argue as far as it being a shameful decision, others believe it will make the race more exciting. Opinions are subjective, and Prudhomme has shared his. "The Tour is always made for climbers, no matter what anyone says. If you can't climb well, you cannot win the Tour de France," he said.
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"I dream of having, like 60 years ago, a true face-off between the pure rouleurs who try to hang on in the mountains and the great climbers who aren't good against the watch. That's not the case now, but it might happen again," he continued. Prudhomme has defended that an ITT-filled route has a space in the Tour de France still, but there has been a focus elsewhere in this particular edition.
"When I was little, we used to have a duality between climbers and time triallists, an opposition of styles. You'd have a Jacques Anquetil who was a super rouleur but suffered in the mountains, and then The Eagle of Toledo, Federico Bahamontes, who impacted in the mountains but lost time against the clock," Prudhomme remembered. "That's when you have to put time trials in, because the styles would balance out. Now, we're back in an attacking kind of cycling, with riders capable of winning almost anywhere."
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Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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