The prospect of national teams riding the Tour de France has been raised after a break of decades
By Graham Healy
The French Cycling Federation (FFC) last week unveiled a radical plan to restructure the Tour de France. FFC president David Lappartient suggested that the Tour should invite 25 national teams from around the world, consisting of eight riders each as opposed to the current system of 22 trade teams with nine riders each.
Lappartient submitted his proposal to both the UCI and ASO, the Tour organisers. The Frenchman feels that the proposal would help to strengthen the race in the aftermath of the Lance Armstrong scandal, saying: “We need to rediscover that which is the strength of cycling, unpredictable races in which the scenario isn’t written in advance.”
National teams have contested the Tour in the past, from 1930 to 1961, and then in 1967 and 1968. The race wasn’t as international as it is now though, so instead of 25 separate countries contesting the race, there were fewer teams in the race, and also there were numerous regional teams representing France.
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The ASO president, Christian Prudhomme has been quick to dismiss the idea however. Prudhomme told l’Équipe: “Nowadays, there are trade teams that resemble national ones. For me, going back to national teams is a bit of an old chestnut. It was great at the time but I’m not convinced that it’s a solution for the future.”
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If the idea did gain momentum though, what would it mean for Irish riders?
Firstly, based on Lappartient’s suggestion, it would mean that Ireland would probably have to rank in the first 25 nations to be in a position to enter a team. If not, then it could possibly mean the exclusion of any Irish World Tour riders from entering the race.
If the country were to gain selection though, it would be a very big ask to be able to bring eight riders together who would be in a position to race competitively or finish the race. Realistically, riders would need to be at Pro Continental level to take on a Grand Tour.
Other countries would also struggle to field a full-man team. If ASO followed the UCI’s system for ranking nations for World Championship entries, then we could possibly see countries like Iran, Bulgaria or Japan fielding teams in the Tour. On the flipside, the likes of France, Italy, Spain and Belgium would be limited to just eight riders.
Prudhomme has put the idea to bed for the moment, but if it is revisited at some stage, it would certainly change the Tour as we know it.
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