This Tour de l'Avenir that is changing its face, opening to World Tour development teams, tells an intense story of inherited passion. It is embodied, within the ranks of organizational communications, by Philippe Bouvet, who was long the head editor of L'Equipe's cycling pages.

No, truly one cannot say this is just any other race for a journalist of recognized authority, attentive to every nuance of the history of two-wheeled sport, and also firmly embracing the forward-looking message that the event represents. Philippe is the son of Albert, who after an important cycling career (he wore the jerseys of Mercier BP Hutchinson, Ignis and Margnat-Paloma for a long time) also distinguished himself in the 1956 Paris-Tours, coming close on two occasions to stage victory at the Grande Boucle.

After hanging up his bike, the Breton born in 1930 would enter the ranks of the Tour de France management, after a stint at Le Parisien libéré, he became a dowser of the pavé. And here's what we mean: "Yes, my father in 1968, at the behest of Jacques Goddet, was tasked with revitalizing the Paris-Roubaix route, finding with the help of his friend Jean Stablinski, sectors in the Cambrésis and Valenciennois regions. He was nicknamed "le Bouledogue de Fougères," to emphasize his power and Breton roots. And he was part of the great French team that helped Jacques Anquetil win his first Tour de France in 1957," recounts Philippe Bouvet, who as a young boy breathed deeply that atmosphere.

L'Avenir was born in 1961 and immediately captured the attention of the boy who would become a leading voice at L'Equipe, able to cover many seasons of French and world cycling. "My connection to the event that will end with you in Italy, at Ceresole Reale, is special, as are recent memories of Seixas's victory in the 2025 edition.

In the 1970s, Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc and his right-hand man Albert Bouvet became convinced of the need to make the race sustainable, putting it on solid financial footing.

"I recognize in the race the value of talent discovery, yesterday, from the years of visionary founder Leon Marchand, as today, when the entry of development teams represents a format change, I hope without distorting the identity of the event, which since 2012 has had Alpes Velo (A-Velo) as its promoting partner. Capable of preserving a dimension of involvement across all of France, emphasizing high mountain terrain, Savoy, Haute Tarantaise and that arrival full of fascination at Finestre in 2024," specifies Philippe Bouvet, recalling how L'Avenir first explored, in 2019, the Col de La Loze, which became a Tour classic.

He adds further: "I believe that one of its established merits is having anticipated globalization, suffice it to say that already in the first year, when the race period was the same as the Tour, Canada and Uruguay participated. Or that in the early sixties there was a Moroccan stage winner. The European Community Tour cycle produced winners of great significance, from Indurain to Fignon, who had already won the Grande Boucle. Later, at the specific initiative of UCI and ASO, it increasingly established itself as a race that launches under-23s, or espoirs. I like to emphasize how L'Avenir previewed the Colombians, a year before they participated in the Tour with Café de Colombia. If Italians boast the overall victory in the first edition of 1961, with De Rosso, there is the memory of how L'Avenir represented a launching pad for Felice Gimondi in 1964, just a year before his feat at the Grande Boucle in 1965".

We've been missing from the roll of honor since 1973 (Baronchelli)… "but Lorenzo Finn could end the long drought. With two consecutive world championships won, we've seen the caliber of the number one favorite of this edition. We await the verdict of the road, aware, as happened to us with Seixas, of how an entire movement needs to recognize itself in young riders ready to assert themselves at the Tour de France within a two-year span, I cite, staying with recent times, Bernal, Pogacar, Del Toro".

Yes, it would be a fine sight to see Philippe's prophecy come true, capable of reconciling the observation of cyclists on the rise and the dimension of memory, as demonstrated by his exhibitions of memorabilia. Not to be missed.