As 19-year-old Paul Seixas prepares to do battle for a Tour de France podium spot in the race's final week, veteran French racer Warren Barguil has warned against the dangers of burnout for young riders in the peloton and those hoping to turn pro.
34-year-old Barguil, who won two stages and the mountain classification in 2017, is racing his 12th Tour de France this summer. He turned pro at the age of 20 back in 2013, and made his Tour debut aged 23.
Speaking to L'Equipe on Monday, he voiced concern over young cyclists coming up through the system at the moment. The Picnic PostNL racer even suggested that the UCI should step in to place a limit on the races the youngest riders in the peloton could take part in.
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"We did training sessions to show off to our friends. We had fun," Barguil said, reflecting on his younger years on the bike
"Now, it's structured. My father, who coaches, has stopped working with the juniors. At one point, he realised he'd be forced to ask too much of them, just to keep up. He didn't want to contribute to the problem.
"Even in the junior category, he told me he has to hold back young riders who want to do four hours of cycling on their rest day. The UCI needs to do something about it: limit the age of riders in WorldTour races."
Barguil said that the level is rising every year, saying that when he won stage 18 on the Col d'Izoard in 2017, his power output for the climb was 5.9 W/kg. He rode to 10th overall in Paris back then, but suggested that today's top Tour riders need to output an extra watt per kilogram to match that achievement.
"5.9 W/kg, back then, was among the top power outputs! Now, you need almost a watt per kilogram more. It's crazy," he said.
"People don't realise how much the level has risen. My generation saw the gap widen. And the new generation is coming, doing 7 W/kg for 20 minutes.
"Before, if you did 6 W/kg, you were good. Now you're a teammate."
Barguil is currently racing his second Grand Tour of the season, having finished 57th at the Giro d'Italia. His best result so far this July has been 58th on Sunday's stage 15 to the Plateau de Solaison, and he suggested that this might be his last outing at the race
"On Sunday, I tried to break away a bit more at the start of the stage. It’s the first time I’ve actually enjoyed it. It’s been a long haul. The previous fourteen stages were more about survival. But I’m thinking this might be my last Tour," Barguil said.
"It took 80km to get away. Everyone is giving 300%. Then, the first thing everyone does is drop back into the gruppetto to conserve energy and try again the next day. That's what makes the speed so high.
"On the long 7km climb [the early Côte de Rousses], I think three-quarters of the guys who tried to get in the breakaway almost beat their 20-minute personal best. It's crazy. The level of competition means it's not like it used to be."
As the peloton's performance level rises beyond anything seen before, Barguil suggested that France's new phenomenon, Seixas, the youngest man to race the Tour since 1937, is an exception among young riders. He said that many other riders will "burn out" trying to make it as pros.
"Paul Seixas is exceptional, but that shouldn't be possible before 20 or 21. That could reduce this phenomenon. Because while Paul is doing well, I know plenty of others who burn out because they couldn't overcome it," he said.
"We quickly idealise the successful guy, but many fall flat on their faces. I think we don't talk about it enough. I know a young woman who had a burnout at 17 because she was fed up with cycling.
"It's a societal phenomenon that needs to be addressed in sports because it's become extreme, too extreme. I'm worried about the young people who will drop out of school early. Their social circle is limited to cycling. They don't have any friends anywhere else.
"If it all stops overnight, what will they be able to rely on? Everyone says there's doping among the pros. But now they're going to end up trying to turn pro by doping. And I'm really afraid of that for the young people."
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