Imagining a 2023 Tour de France with a national team format
A return to an old style would make some curious lineups
Photo by:
Sirotti
There was a time that the squads in the Tour de France were not trade teams, but based on countries. From 1931 until 1961, in fact, the Tour was organized around national teams.
Nowadays, the only time cycling fans see their heroes in national kit is the world championships or the Olympics. Composite teams of riders who are normally rivals become temporary allies for a day. In theory. There have been times when riders on trade teams, but different countries, will help their actual teammates. On the day of the race, you’re supposed to help the best rider in your country, even if the next day you’ll put your trade team kit back on.
There have been calls to return to this format, but realistically, it probably won’t ever happen again. Given the scale of the Tour, and the massive investments put forward by corporations to get exposure during one of the biggest sporting events in the world, it’s unlikely to see it again. But it’s still an idea that pops up now and again. When the current UCI big boss David Lappartient, was head of the French Cycling Federation from 2009-2017, he had called for national teams to contest the Tour. His idea, which he did in fact submit to the ASO and UCI, called for 25 teams of eight riders, of all continents, that would race the TdF. As we know, that never happened.
What if the Tour invited national teams in 2023?
The most exciting aspects would undoubtedly be the cycling powerhouses. Italy would certainly want Filippo Ganna onboard. For the GC, you’d think a rider like Damiano Caruso would be the best pick. Then who else would you grab to round out the squad? Diego Ulissi? Filippo Zana to grab some stage wins? You can’t just pick the top eight Italians in the UCI rankings, which is where the deliberation would begin. In fact, when it comes to selection, it might be a nightmare. Would it be based on certain criteria? A committee? Both? Would you have Tour de France trials, similar to what some countries do for the Olympics? Would the national champion be a shoo-in?
A united French team?
France would be a pretty stacked team too, but with clashing personalities. Imagine a squad with Julian Alaphilippe and Thibaut Pinot. Remember how upset Arnaud Démare was for being left off Groupama-FDJ for the upcoming Tour? That might not happen if it were national teams only. If Christophe Laporte was riding for France, not Jumbo, it might change his race strategy. Or, would he have to work for Pinot in his final TdF?
Imagine Jonas Vingegaard being supported by Danes, not Jumbo. Mads Pedersen would undoubtedly want to go for stage wins, but if Vingegaard got the yellow, he and Magnus Cort would have to put aside their aspirations. Recent Tour de Suisse winner, Mattias Skjelmose might have to as well–or would he be part of a two-pronged GC bid by the Danes?
Wout and Remco, together at last
Belgium would be a wild team: Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel riding on the same squad. That is, if Evenepoel were doing the 2023 Tour–which he’s not. But still, imagine those two on the same team. Would they get along? Would van Aert be as loyal to Evenepoel as he is to Vingegaard, becoming a faithful worker when the time comes?
Who would fill out Mathieu van der Poel’s Dutch team? You’d think you’d want Fabio Jakobsen for stage wins. Dylan van Baarle, too. Think about a Colombian squad with Nairo Quintana, Rigoberto Urán and Egan Bernal. A Portuguese team led by João Almeida. The Spaniards with Luis León Sánchez and Mikel Landa. The match-ups would be wild. Would the UK have ultimately chosen Chris Froome for one last Tour? Or would it all be about Mark Cavendish breaking the record for stage wins?
There would be so many strong opinions about the big cycling countries, but then you have to think about the smaller ones.
Pog and pals
How would Tadej Pogačar fare with a Slovenian squad? Sure, there are some big names from the country. Imagine Pog and Primož Roglič racing together. Matej Mohorič would be there too. But would they have the same support that say, Italy or Belgium would? Imagine the Eritrean team, with leadouts for Biniam Girmay? Merhawi Kudus would be there, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier too, but you may need to pull from some teams who haven’t yet done a GT.
Team Canada
The most interesting question for Canadians in this hypothetical thought experiment is who would wear the blue and white at the Tour? By the way, that’s another interesting question. Just like the Olympics, you can be sure that the clothing sponsors would make special national team kits for the Tour. Would they let pros have any mention of their trade teams on the shorts, similar to what riders used to do at the world championships? Or would the uniforms be standard, with only national team sponsors?
As far as the Canuck team, there are some easy choices with which to start. Given that Michael Woods, Hugo Houle and Guillaume Boivin are already doing it, they would be in. But you’d need five more, and of course, there’s not a lot of riders on WorldTour teams. How about Nick Zukowsky? Then you may have to grab some Human Powered Health riders like Ben Perry, Adam de Vos and Pier-André Coté. James Piccoli? Of course, everyone would want to see Derek Gee at the Tour. He just finished his first Grand Tour in style, and his team doesn’t want to throw him into the TdF quite yet. Undoubtedly he will be riding in France soon. The same could be said for the young Ineos-Grenadiers rider, Michael Leonard. Those two would be super additions to an upcoming Tour, but 2023 might be too early.
It’s a fun game to play, imagining this, but don’t expect it to happen any time soon. But it would make for some very different racing, with some very different riders.
