Farewell to the two "misses" around the champions. The Tour de France modifies for the first time its protocol considered sexist by its detractors and now promises a man and a woman to put the jerseys back on the finish podiums.
It was its director, Christian Prudhomme, who announced it in a sentence in which he presented the health instructions for the start of the Grande Boucle in Nice on August 29. “You used to see the champion surrounded by two hostesses, with five elected on one side and five representatives of the partners on the other. There, it will be different with only one elected and one representative of the partner of the yellow jersey, as well as a hostess and a host for the first time, ”he said at a press conference.
“Yes, it's new but we have already been doing it in other races for 20 years like in Liège-Bastogne-Liège”, organized like the Tour de France by Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), added Christian Prudhomme.
The runners not convinced
To see how this reform will be received. In 2018, several cyclists questioned about this possibility had expressed their disappointment to the Parisian. "I think we are going too far," remarked Belgian Greg Van Avermaet. The French Julian Alaphilippe, not yet become the mascot of French cycling, found “it scandalous to be able to imagine removing the misses (...) It's part of the history of the Tour de France and even of all races. It's good for them, for the image of cycling and women. "
In 2018, another world class race organized by ASO, the Flèche Wallonne, had opted for a mixed podium, a man to reward the winner and a woman for the winner.
Will the kiss last?
Mr. Prudhomme did not specify whether they also put an end to the tradition of "kissing" the winner, but the health context seems to have got the better of this other criticized practice anyway. Spectators along the roads are invited to come masked.
For several years, voices have been raised regularly to demand the end of podium hostesses. A petition in 2019 even collected nearly 38,000 signatures, believing that women "are not objects, not rewards". Formula 1 had put an end in 2018 to the "grid girls", these young women, chosen for their plastic, who indicate the location of the single-seaters. They have been replaced by children.