Accustomed to media coverage, Christian Prudhomme (63 years old) will “open” his 26th Tour de France, his 18th as director of the event, without feeling the slightest weariness despite the kilometers and the accumulated meals, carried according to him by the idea that the Grande Boucle is an extension of childhood.
Have you counted the number of team presentations and Tour starts that you have covered?
It’s quite simple to break down: this is my 18th Tour as director, I also have three as deputy (from Jean-Marie Leblanc, his predecessor)five as a journalist. So I’m at 26. I tell myself that it’s not possible, I don’t realize how much time has passed. It’s crazy how fast it goes, maybe also because with the Tour, we’re always on the road.
Apart from the very short interludes of Jean-François Naquet-Radiguet (1987) and Xavier Louy (1988), Tour directors such as Henri Desgrange (1903-1936), Jacques Goddet (1937-1987) or Jean-Marie Leblanc (1987-2007) have always had long reigns. How do you see yourself in history?
I can’t compare myself to big names like them. Jean-Marie was magnificent with me when I was his assistant, he endorsed me with all the elected officials. So, no, I don’t compare myself to them, but on the other hand, I know that when you are director of the Tour, you are lucky to stay for quite a long time. But that’s down to the Amaury family (owner of ASO, the race organizer, and The Team), to the fact that it is a family business. But to join Jacques Goddet, I would have to prepare for retirement at 95 and that is not my goal (laughs). But I realize that there are very few names since 1903.
At 63, are you thinking about retirement?
Retirement, no, transmission, yes. I will definitely suggest a name.
“After twenty years, you know people”
Do you have a timetable in mind, a deadline?
No, but what is important are the people around me who build links with those who, tomorrow, will be city mayor, president or president of a department… In 2005, during the World Championships in Madrid, a delegation from Rotterdam comes to see me. I then ask them if they spoke with Jean-Marie Leblanc. They answer me: “Are you really his successor? So it’s you we want to talk to.” This involves taking your pilgrim’s staff, having lunch, having dinner, a hundred times a year. After twenty years, you know people.
Do you still have faith since 2004?
The same faith, yes, the same liver, it’s not sure (laughs). You need good health! My grandfather had eating competitions, he won them all, except for the day when someone put camembert on his plate. He was allergic and he lost! When Jean-Marie Leblanc, in 2004, asked me to take care of the Paris-Nice route, I was very struck by the fact that the people contacted by phone or by email all told me no, everyone. And everyone I went to see all said yes. If I still have faith, it’s because I’m only a child: it was the Tour that made me want to become a journalist. It’s an extension of childhood, everything comes from the Tour. I love it viscerally, it’s my life.
Cycling has evolved over the past twenty years. Is it going too fast?
Yes, it’s going too fast. And it is linked to the course, of course, but also to the equipment and the behavior of the runners. We cannot ask champions to slow down, that is the very essence of competition, but we must find measures on the tires, the earpieces, the inattention linked to the meters, the developments… Yellow cards and red are a good thing, but alas, they will not be tested on the Tour. But the runner’s first protector is the runner himself. »
