Article published Thursday December 5, 2024 at 6:15 p.m.
and updated at 6:41 p.m..
The fifth edition of the Nature is Bike festival, initially scheduled for June 13, 14 and 15, 2025, will not take place. The decision has been made: Destination Angers is focusing its efforts on hosting the 3rd stage of the Tour de France Féminin, scheduled for July 28, 2025. A strategic choice, but one which will undoubtedly leave a bitter taste in the gravel community. Focus on the reasons for this cancellation and its consequences.
Cancellation of the Nature is Bike 2025 gravel festival, a difficult but accepted decision
The Nature is Bike festival, which has become a benchmark event for gravel enthusiasts in four editions, is on hold. Destination Angers, organizer of the event, justified this decision by the need to prioritize hosting the Tour de France Féminin. Angers will, in fact, be the arrival city for the 3rd stage of the 2025 edition, an event of international scope.
“The City of Angers wanted to make this event a festive and popular time of summer, with activities both for Angevins who do not go on vacation but also to promote our territory to tourists.“, specifies the tourist office.
Of course, for local authorities, the choice is strategic: the Tour de France Féminin offers greater visibility to the regions, both for residents and for summer visitors. But the cancellation of Nature is Bike marks a break for a festival which had, in a short time, been able to bring together a loyal community and highlight the natural assets of the Angevin metropolis on this practice.
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“With more than 800 km of routes consolidated during the different editions of Nature is Bike, the Tourist Office continues to support the emergence of gravel practice.“, indicates the Angevin organization. Nature is Bike had effectively contributed to positioning Angers as a flagship territory for gravel. Their work adds to that of the important Angevin gravel community supported by the Topette ACC.
The cancellation of Nature is Bike 2025 deprives enthusiasts of a major event. This obviously raises questions about the future of the event. On this point, given the current political-socio-economic climate, the organizers obviously do not comment on whether or not a 2026 edition will be held. Wait and see.
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