Prudhomme calls for ban on power meters at Tour de France

After presenting the route of the Tour de France each year, Christian Prudhomme concludes by delivering something akin to a brief state of the union address, outlining the concerns of organiser ASO. The race director this year availed of the platform to call for a ban on the use of power meters in competition.

"We reassert our desire to see the end of power meters in races, which annihilate the glorious uncertainty of sport," Prudhomme said in his closing remarks.

Team Sky's dominant tempo riding in the high mountains has been a hallmark of the Tour de France in recent years, and the race's predictability has contrasted with the rather more inventive fare offered up on the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España in the same period.

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Last year, teams were reduced to eight riders with little obvious impact on race tactics. With a preponderance of medium mountain stages and with time bonus sprints on eight mountain stages, the route of the 2019 Tour has been designed in the hope of inspiring more aggressive racing.

Prudhomme seems to accept, however, that the route alone cannot change the tenor of the modern Tour de France.

"It's up to the UCI, but I'm saying what I think to stimulate things," Prudhomme told reporters afterwards of his call for a ban of the use of power meters.

What about the Velon data?

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