In an interview with Le Figaro, the director of the Tour de France Christian Prudhomme defended himself from having drawn a Tour that was too difficult this year with the crossing, in particular, of 30 passes. “It is the runners who make the Tour. When you see the proposed route, no. The last, Simon Geschke, arrived on Wednesday five minutes ahead of the timeout, even on a stage like that. The first hour of each stage is run at breakneck speed. We’re not behind with a whip telling them to go fast. I rather badly experienced the two days when it didn’t run, wondering what we could do to energize the flat stages. But at some point they have to rest.”