This article was first published in Rouleur Issue 144

What does the Amaury Sport Organisation do when it wants to increase the appeal of the Tour de France in the modern age? The answer: it takes the race back to its roots and brings in a gravel stage in order to appeal to a contemporary audience.

One of the key men behind the radical move from ASO in 2024 was Yannick Talabardon, a modern day maverick and dreamer, but equally a lover of cycling's past and the rich tapestry of history it contains. Talabardon didn't plan on becoming a race organiser. But for a passionate cartophile, it seemed a logical career path after stepping off the bike following a 12-year career in the pro peloton. The decision to head in a new direction proved a wise one for the former Crédit Agricole rider, when it led to a meeting with the main man behind the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme. A job offer to join technical director Thierry Gouvenou's team at ASO soon followed.

Ten years on from that fortuitous meeting with Prudhomme, Talabardon is now one of the brightest minds in ASO's cycling department; a trusted voice after his successful input into the stage in Troyes two years ago. Recently appointed as director of Paris-Nice, Talabardon also regularly acts as a motorbike race regulator during the Tour itself; his star is continuing to rise. From the outside, ASO now appears to have an heir apparent to Gouvenou waiting in the wings, should the Tour's lead race director ever decide to call it a day. But Talabardon is the antithesis to tradition, potentially a stumbling block when you're dealing with the legacy of the biggest bike race in the world.

"With something like the Tour, you have to respect its history. But you also can't be afraid to try new things," he states firmly. "A lot of people can be critical and will say we should have done this or that with the route each year, but you have to move past that," he adds, reflecting on how ASO can continue to adapt in the years ahead. Talabardon tells Rouleur that for him the answer is simple: dare to dream, try the unexpected, continue to break new boundaries along the way. Inspired by the success of the Olympic games, the redevelopment of the Tour's final stage in Paris last year to include the cobbled streets of Montmartre meant that the unexpected has continued to become a reality for the race. "It was always a huge challenge for us to take the race into that part of the city," he says. "But," he remarks enthusiastically, "that stage will be remembered forever now. I think we have to be inspired by that."

TTT on trial

Catching up with Rouleur as he winds down from Paris-Nice, Talabardon is relishing the prospect of this year's Grand Départ in Barcelona, assembled by his mentor, Gouvenou. The race will open with a team time trial for the first time since 1971, although this will be a collective effort unlike anything the race has ever seen before. Traditionally, the fourth rider across the line in a team time trial stops the clock for the group, meaning that teams would tailor their efforts to ensure at least four men would finish together.

(Image credit: A.S.O.)

In contrast, however, new rules introduced by ASO, and tested at Paris-Nice, mean that times will now be taken individually. "This means the GC could be interesting from day one," Talabardon says, "we will no longer have four riders of the same team in the first few places afterwards," a common occurrence in team time trials of old. "Rapidly, we will now have one leader from one team, then another, and so on," he continues, explaining that the 19 kilometres to the finish atop Montjuïc are likely to become a high-speed lead-out as teams attempt to put their best GC rider into position to gain time on their rivals.

Barcelona could have offered many exciting stage possibilities to open with, the finishing road stage of the Volta a Catalonia a prime example. So why start with a team time trial after all these years? "I think that's because it is important to try new things for the fans," Talabardon replies. "The new rules will make it interesting and engaging for them. You don't have many chances to try something like this, and it's important to grab people's interest from the start."

At most races, team time trials are notoriously stressful for mechanics, riders and team staff alike. Has there been much kick back at bringing this in so early? "I don't know exactly what the reception has been for bringing this into the Tour, but the teams have often said to me that it's a lot of work just for one stage, which we can understand," he adds, recalling the feedback he has been given at Paris-Nice. "But they will already have had the opportunity to get some practice in this year, so they can be ready."

Routemaster general

Each year, after the details of the Grand Départ have been finalised by Prudhomme and Gouvenou, Talabardon explains that the rest of the Tour route often stays firmly under wraps for months, even in the confines of ASO's headquarters. In the past, it was rumoured that the duo's predecessors – Jean-Marie Leblanc and Jean-François Pescheux – would sketch the whole thing out on a napkin over a long drawn out lunch together.

Talabardon laughs when Rouleur asks if there are ever whispers that his current bosses do likewise. "I just know that Christian, the big chef, chooses the cities, Thierry then takes charge of the route. And once he knows the cities, that's when Thierry can really get to work." When it comes to the route, Gouvenou is typically the sole artist responsible for the final masterpiece that ends up being painted onto the canvas of Le Grand Boucle each year.

"He has been doing this for so long now that he really does know most of the roads in the whole of France, the knowledge Thierry has built up is amazing," Talabardon says of his boss. "But for the last five years, maybe longer, he's increasingly wanted to find something different, something fresh."

Gouvenou's desire to break new ground was where Talabardon came in. His love for gravel meant that he was the man for the job when Gouvenou decided that bringing it into the race could be an option. Talabardon was sent on a scouting mission to Troyes, and his final idea, established over multiple recons of the area, meant that he had a green light to proceed once he had presented his proposal for 2024's route. The end result – the Tour's first-ever gravel stage in the modern era – was action packed and dramatic, exactly as Talabardon had hoped. Plus it was won by France's own Anthony Turgis, an unexpected bonus for the organisers. The peloton took on 14 sections of gravel that traversed the rolling champagne vineyards around Troyes, taking the race back to its roots and a bygone age. Riders were quick to sing the praises of ASO afterwards, with Michael Matthews calling the stage "a real bike race".

"We worked on that stage for almost two years in advance," Talabardon tells Rouleur as he looks back on his proudest moment as a sports manager and organiser at ASO. "I've always been really interested in gravel riding. I had been to that part of France a lot on holiday, so I did a lot of recons myself on those roads to find the best parts for the race and work out a plan."

And it was a plan that delivered as the clouds of white dust, kicked up by the peloton, created excitement that was still being spoken of before the Tour started again in Lille a year later. "When I think back, I remember being so stressed on the day of the stage. We all were, but Thierry was so pleased with how everything went. But, as always is with the Tour, there was no time to celebrate, as it was straight on to the next stage afterwards."

Dreams and reality

So with Paris-Nice out of the way, has Talabardon had time to bring new ideas to Gouvenou's attention for this year's route? "No, nothing that worked," he says with a laugh, revealing that his desire to increase the elevation gain on offer in eastern France had to be reined in by Gouvenou. "During stages 11 and 12 this year, we're going right into an area that we use regularly during Paris-Nice. Towns like Vichy, Nevers, Chalon sur Saône, we go there all the time," he explains. "I suggested that on the stage to Chalon we could make it similar to the stage to Uchon on this year's Paris-Nice, with a lot of climbing, but Thierry was not convinced and told me: 'No, we can't. We will have just been through the Pyrenees and Massif Central, so let's try to keep it on some nice, beautiful and flat roads, nothing special this time.'

Despite his new idea getting knocked back, Talabardon says he understood the reasoning: "We could have pulled together a very hard stage, with a lot of elevation gain, but Thierry was keen to make sure we had some stages for the sprinters in that region."

Talabardon describes how the reason for Gouvenou's desire for more sprint stages is to counter an increasing problem in the general organisation of the race – dealing with a proliferation in road furniture within urban environments across France. "I don't think it's just us, I think it's a growing problem for all organisers now," he says. "It's getting really difficult to find safe finishes for the sprinters, without speed bumps and other road furniture. In all of our major cities in France, they want to have cars going at no more than 30 kilometres per hour in certain places as they want to reduce speed limits on inner roads.

"But when we then pass through these areas on a sprint stage in any race, the riders can be travelling at well over 60, maybe even 70, as we head towards the finish. It can be so difficult to find something for sprint stages that works. At one point, maybe ten or 20 years ago, cities would say 'yeah, it's no problem, we can move the splitters, we can remove speed bumps, don't worry, it's no trouble', but now it's very expensive to do that and complicated for everyone."

As well as battling with the increasing logistical issues associated with sprint stages, ASO risked indefinitely alienating the fast men of the peloton after radically overhauling their moment in the spotlight, the final day in Paris last year. After Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogačar lit up Montmartre in the rain, the new finish to the Tour is here to stay.

(Image credit: A.S.O.)

Considering the somewhat surprise move, Talabardon agrees that Gouvenou's eagerness to ensure plenty of opportunities for bunch kicks this time round is entirely logical. "It became more important than ever before, to make sure we had more sprint stages this year, and I know Thierry was very happy about that."

Though Talabardon needn't have feared a lack of elevation gain this year, admitting that he winced on viewing the parcours designed by Gouvenou for the final two weeks, including one particularly fearsome new location that is set to make its Tour debut in July. "I really like the look of the stage to Plateau de Solaison," he says as he pinpoints the finish that burnt the legs off the peloton during a stage of the 2022 Critérium du Dauphiné, dominated by Jumbo-Visma, and won by Jonas Vingegaard.

"I did a recon of that stage myself recently, and I can say for sure that it's going to be very interesting in a lot of ways," he adds. "Before we reach the Plateau de Solaison, the riders will have to tackle the climb to Le Salève on the Col de La Croisette. I think that climb will come at about 60-70 kilometres before the finish and it is very, very steep indeed – it has about 4.7 kilometres at more than 11 per cent."

Recalling the brutal gradients that the peloton will face on the roads of stage 15, Talabardon thinks a general classification showdown on the slopes above Lake Geneva will be almost inevitable. "Once they go over the top of Le Salève, there will be minimal flat road until the bottom of the final climb," he says. "The second part of this stage will be so difficult."

Peak practice

As well as the peaks of stage 15, are there any other stages he was particularly drawn to when he saw the full route for the first time? "The stage between Malemort and Ussel, before the first rest day. That has something to look out for, with the Suc au May climb – the race has used that before and it's tough," he remarks. "Also, I would say the two ascents of Alpe d'Huez, particularly stage 20 with the Croix de Fer, Col du Galibier and the Col de Sarenne. The last climb is not so famous, but it is also extremely steep and will make for a great end to the race. For those stages, I would say you should definitely make sure you can stay by your TV and watch if you can't be on the roadside!"

Being in the middle of the race caravan on the regulator's motorbike means that Talabardon will arguably have the best seat in the house whenever any GC attacks do materialise, a unique position in the thick of the action that he never takes for granted. "It's not happened very often, particularly when things get stressful during the Tour, but sometimes you have a small moment on the motorbike where you can recognise what an amazing job we have," he says, his deep sense of pride in his work coming through in his voice. "I get it particularly when I'm by myself behind an important breakaway, without any TV motorbikes, and I'm alone with the riders. It wasn't in the Tour, but I remember in Paris-Roubaix recently, after the Carrefour de l'Arbre sector, I was just behind Mathieu van der Poel. He was alone, he was riding to another victory and I said to my driver: 'Okay, we've got the time to enjoy this. Let's enjoy a moment with a super champion.' We couldn't stay for more than a few seconds, but it's good to have time to occasionally enjoy your work."

And enjoying the moment will be the order of the day, and evening, when the Tour winds its way onto the Champs-Élysées once more this July. How do Gouvenou, Prudhomme, and the rest of their colleagues celebrate when the race reaches Paris? Is there a particular way in which they mark the occasion?

"We don't have a big party, nothing crazy in the hotel, or a boat on the Seine, nothing like that," Talabardon says. "We just have a simple tradition that all of our team will take an aperitif together after the podium ceremonies, near to the Champs-Élysées. It's nothing over the top, but it's good to just be together as we are like the riders when they finish: tired, exhausted. We just want to sit with a beer with our friends, and think about the great moments we've had together across the last three weeks."