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The Conversation
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Gaël Gueguen, Professeur en Stratégie et en Entrepreneuriat, TBS Education

Tour de France: analysing what makes cycling’s premier race exciting

Tour Tour de France Christian Prudhomme France Tours Greg LeMond Laurent Fignon United States Vuelta

In 2019, the Tour de France changed its rules so that teams consisted of eight riders instead of nine. Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour, justified the decision by citing safety issues (fewer riders, therefore less risk of crashes) and the dynamism of the race (fewer riders, therefore fewer locked-in stages). The change was initially proposed in 2017 by the International Cycling Union (UCI), and other major races such as the Tour d’Italie (the Giro) et the Tour d’Espagne (the Vuelta) also followed suit.

While the change was controversial, major sporting events often adjust their rules to improve safety, spectacle, fairness or possible economic interests; Formula 1 is a classic example.

With the 109th edition of the Tour de France starting on 1 July in Copenhagen, Denmark, how does the future look for La Grande Boucle?

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