The twist of the end of the 2020 Tour alone symbolizes the shift observed in recent months: on the slopes of the Belles-Filles board, the twirling Tadej Pogacar, who turns 22 this Monday, managed to steal the yellow jersey for the thirty-something Primoz Roglic, on the eve of parading on the Champs-Elysées. The Slovenian confirms the empowerment of young people during this edition, and more broadly in world cycling.
But how much younger are the stage winners of this Grande Boucle than in previous years?
By listing the age of all the stage winners since 2000, on the day of their success, we observe that it was much lower during the edition which ended on Sunday: the lucky champions were 26 years old and 343 days old on average. In XXIe century, only the 2013 Tour had so far posted a record below the 28 gut bar (27 years and 310 days). It was in 2001 that the race smiled the most for seniors (30 years and 203 days) over this period.
Young people are winning more and more on the roads of the Tour, even though they are not more numerous. The age of the peloton is relatively stable, albeit rising slightly. While he was 29 years and 33 days in 2000, he reached 30 years and 299 days this year and has not gone below 30 years since 2010.
The gap between the average age of the peloton and that of stage winners has been unprecedented for two decades (see graph above). Less than two years old until 2009, this age difference now flirts with three years. This year, she even approached four years old.
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Note that, to establish these data, the age of the multiple stage winners was only counted once per edition. This method of calculation – without fundamentally changing the results – makes it possible to attenuate the effect of the domination of a single man, like that of the young Mark Cavendish and his ten victories between 2008 and 2009, or of the former Lance Armstrong and André Greipel (respectively five and four stages, in 2004 and 2015).
On the other hand, it highlights the generational effects. Despite the three successes of Tadej Pogacar (whose age is therefore only counted once), the average age of the stage winners of the 2020 Tour remains much lower than that of the peloton. In total, nine runners aged 26 or under shared fourteen of the twenty-one bouquets of this edition: Marc Hirschi and Tadej Pogacar (22), Lennard Kämna and Daniel Martinez (24), Søren Kragh Andersen, Caleb Ewan, Wout Van Aert, Miguel Ángel López and Nans Peters (26 years old). But their elders did not give up. The first stage was taken by an old man, Alexander Kristoff, 33, teamed up with the final winner, who had donned the yellow jersey for the occasion.
Read also Tadej Pogacar, quiet prodigy of the Tour de France
Traditionally known as a “late maturing” sport (around your 30s), cycling is changing its face. Youth now seem to be on a par with experience.
Bernal and Pogacar, the last two winners of the Tour de France (2019 and 2020) are also the youngest winners since 1909. Before them, Contador held the title of youngest winner of this century, thanks to his success in 2007. At this time At the time, he was already two and a half years older than Pogacar.
Clement Le Merlus
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