“What’s great about Yvelines is that it has everything”

Yvelines will still live in the era of cycling in 2025 with the departure and arrival of the 1^re stage of Paris-Nice (a recurrence since 2010), it will be at Perray-en-Yvelines on Sunday March 9, and, above all, it has also been a habit for several years, the start of the 21^e and final stage of the Tour de France, which will start from Mantes-la-Ville on Saturday July 27, before reaching Paris.

This omnipresence of Yvelines on the sporting map of cycling is not the result of chance, but the success of a partnership, without cloud and of long standing, between the departmental council and Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), contractualized by an agreement which runs now until 2029.

Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France and cycling at ASO, gave an interview to 78 actu a few days ago. The former journalist returns to this fruitful collaboration with the Department and the strong ties that unite the two institutions.

“Thanks to the Department, the 1st stage of Paris-Nice has been transfigured”

Between ASO and Yvelines, is it a beautiful love story? How would you describe this relationship which has lasted for fifteen years now?

« The link with the Department is strong. And it starts with Paris-Nice! An essential link! Thanks to the Department of Yvelines, for fifteen years now, we have found land which has transfigured the first stage. Thanks to the Department of Yvelines, Paris-Nice has become a mini-Tour de France, whereas this was not the case before. Before, we had a Paris-Nice which was building to a crescendo.
Today we have a real suspense from the first step. Arrivals where sometimes there is a grouped peloton, where sometimes there are three from the same team (like Christophe Laporte winner in 2022 for Jumbo-Visma in Mantes-la-Ville in front of his teammates Primoz Roglic and Wout Van Aert, Editor's note), where you also see two riders arrive, like Julian Alaphilippe and Arnaud Démare, with Démare who will win (at Bois-d'Arcy in 2017, Editor’s note). This first stage of Paris-Nice, thanks to François Lemarchand and Yannick Talabardon, who are in charge of the race, foundincredible strength. We feel it in the audiences, and that's been the case since we started in Yvelines. »

“With the Department, we have formed bonds of friendship”

The agreement linking ASO and the Department of Yvelines runs until 2029. Could it be extended?

“There is a desire from Pierre Bédier to irrigate the territoryand that suits us well, because the Tour has to go everywhere. What's great about Yvelines is that it has everything. This rural and wooded part, the heritage, and the proximity to Paris. Whoever the director of the Tour is in ten years, whoever the president of the Department is, if it is no longer Pierre Bédier, I hope that the institutions will continue to talk to each other. Relationships are very strong, very healthy. And it's not just a formula, it's the truth. We learned to know each other, to trust each other. We also formed bonds of friendship, very clearly. »

The Tour de France loves symbols. This year we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first final finish on the Champs-Élysées, but also… the centenary of the first of the fourteen major starts of the Tour from Le Vésinet (1925, then 1927 to 1939). The last stage between Mantes-la-Ville and Paris will not pass through the Vésigondine commune. An oversight? Too complicated?

“I didn’t have Le Vésinet in mind. Mea culpa. »

“The Palace of Versailles is something that matters”

Could there be a new start of the last stage from Versailles in the coming years? And a new passage through the castle?

« The last departure from Versailles was in 2013. That year, we went to Versailles, as well as to Mont-Saint-Michel, for very simple reasons: I absolutely wanted for the hundredth edition to go to the first two places in France listed as World Heritage sites. humanity. The Palace of Versailles, of course, is something that matters and we would be very happy to be able to go there again. But even if the Tour is powerful, we do not have our football stadium, our rugby stadium, our basketball floor, our ice rink or our swimming pool. To go somewhere, elected officials must want it and, in the specific case of the castle, which is a private place, also obtain other authorizations. The two decisions are independent of each other. »

In 2029, we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the legendary time trial which saw Greg LeMond snatch the yellow jersey from Laurent Fignon in one breath (9 seconds). This final stage started from Versailles. Are you thinking about it?

“I can’t answer you. We have to wait a little bit to know what we will do in 2029. We are not yet working on this route. We are working on 2026, 2027 and 2028. But yes, it is a significant date in the history of the Tour, obviously. An unforgettable time trial, obviously. »

“The communities that host Paris-Nice cannot necessarily host the Tour”

In recent years, Chatou, Houilles and even Mantes-la-Ville first hosted the first stage of Paris-Nice before becoming a stage town for the Tour de France, a few years later. Has it become a prerequisite, an essential repetition?

“It’s not in no way a prerequisite. The communities that host Paris-Nice cannot necessarily host the Tour. It's bigger, you need more space for the Tour. The only promise I can make to a community like the Department of Yvelines as director of the Tour is the start of the last stage, since there is always a transfer the day before arriving in Paris. »

“The Tour is a puzzle”

Is a Tour de France stage finish in Yvelines possible one day during the first week of racing? A “punchy” arrival on the Hautil massif for example, home of the famous Polymultipliée fire (also known as the Climbers’ Trophy)?

“Again, I can’t answer you. I'll tell you anything.There are studies all the time, everywhere. Today, we just have this assurance for Yvelines for the last stage. The Tour is a puzzle. But wherever we can make the link with history, heritage and culture on a course primarily designed for sport, we do it. »

“The mayor of Mureaux, François Garay, likes cycling”

The commune of Mureaux, which hosted Paris-Nice in 2024, is a large city. It would therefore be possible…

“I can't answer you because I don't know anything about it. What I can tell you, however, is that we were very well received at Les Mureaux, without the slightest doubt. It issomething that matters. And if I'm not mistaken, Mayor François Garay likes cycling relatively well and knows what it's all about. What's funny is that he knows Pascal Boulanger very well, a former journalist with whom I covered the Tour for Europe 1 in the 1990s. He was in his club forty years ago. »

Find several videos on social networks of the interview that Christian Prudhomme gave to the Actu.fr teams about the 2025 edition of the Tour de France.

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