Paris Tours punctures
 

I just started watching the Paris Tours race on Peacock. The number of punctures seems atrocious. Seems like there is a lack of technology or willingness to use some tire technology that matches the course. Thoughts?

It comes and goes. There is strategy with selecting the tires too. Faster over more puncture resistant. Or more grippy for wet vs. dry. And others too. Or maybe the sponsor pushed them heavily. Although I think they, the cyclist, have the ultimate choice.

Besides, looking back through the years there are always times that it seem like flats were common and times when you didn't ever see a flat.

I suspect that most of the punctures were pinch punctures. The Tour surface may have deteriorated from previous, and they obviously didn't consider this while using tubulars which at higher pressure make them more prone to pinch flats. The teams with better foresight of this probably faired better.