The route for the 2027 Tour de France has sparked debate about the balance between time trials and mountain stages. The next edition of the Grande Boucle will feature more time-trial kilometres than any Tour in the past 15 years, prompting questions about whether the organisers intend to curb Tadej Pogačar’s dominance.

Race director Christian Prudhomme has rejected that interpretation, arguing that the route reflects the evolution of modern cycling. His case draws on an era when the gap between time-trial specialists and climbers was more pronounced—a scenario that could return with riders such as Remco Evenepoel.

To support his argument, Prudhomme has invoked the legacy of Federico Martín Bahamontes, the first Spaniard to win the Tour, in 1959. The French race director believes the Eagle of Toledo’s story shows that a climber can make up in the mountains for time lost to a time-trial specialist.

“It has been 15 years since we had this many time trials, during the Tour won by Bradley Wiggins, and that was taken into account when we designed this route,” Prudhomme said after the route presentation. In his view, winners since then have also excelled in the mountains, so adding more time-trial distance did not represent a significant change.

Federico Martín Bahamontes, a cycling legend

Bahamontes, Prudhomme’s example

Bahamontes’s 1959 victory now serves to illustrate the organisers’ argument. That year, the rider from Toledo arrived at the Tour after finishing third at the Tour de Suisse, despite abandoning the Spanish race with an infectious illness in his leg.

With Fausto Coppi as his directeur sportif, he approached the French race aiming to fight for the overall title, rather than settling for the mountains classification.

One decisive moment came on the Puy de Dôme, where Bahamontes excelled in an uphill time trial and gained nearly four minutes on Jacques Anquetil. The Frenchman, renowned for his time-trialling and winner of the 1957 Tour, was one of the leading favourites. But that day gave the Spaniard a decisive advantage.

"Now Remco Evenepoel gains time against the clock"

Anquetil and Henri Anglade later clawed back time. In the final time trial, the Frenchman gained more than five minutes on Bahamontes, but it was not enough to take the victory: the Spaniard had built his lead in the mountains as well.

Prudhomme sees a parallel with the 2027 route. “It is like that distant era when Federico Bahamontes gained time on Jacques Anquetil. Now Remco Evenepoel gains time against the clock, which he could lose in the mountains,” he said.

The comparison is intended to defend a route that gives different rider types a chance, without necessarily making it a threat to Pogačar, whose versatility allows him to compete at the highest level in both time trials and the mountains.