Everything you need to know about the event which will attract nearly 10,000 cyclists from various countries to Orléans in August 2025

This is the final sprint of a long distance race during which you must pedal energetically, without derailing. The Orléans-Cyclo-Touriste association is participating in the organization of the 86th International Federal Cycle Tourism Week (Sfic). Scheduled from August 3 to 10, 2025 in Orléans, it should welcome nearly 10,000 cyclists.

The subject was raised during the club's general meeting, Sunday December 15, at L'Argonaute. “The project was initiated by the municipality and is managed by the Loiret departmental cycling tourism committee. We have been working on it for three years,” explains Pascal Ricois, president of Orléans-Cyclo-Touriste.

“It’s a big challenge,” adds Didier Boisseau, vice-president. Around half of the association's 81 members are mobilizing to prepare and coordinate this major event, planned for the heart of summer.

Ask for the program!

Every day, a route intended for road bikes will be offered with four possible routes, ranging from 50 to 180 kilometers and with different elevations. On the program:

• “Between Loire and forest of Orléans”, Sunday 3;
• “Sologne southwest towards Chambord and Cheverny”, Monday 4;
• “Sologne south-east and Sancerrois”, Tuesday 5;
• “The meanders of the Loire from Orléanais to Puisaye”, Wednesday 6;
• “Country picnic in Ligny-le-Ribault”, Thursday 7;
• “Petite Beauce and Dunois”, Friday 8;
• “Forêt d’Orléans and Pithiverais”, Saturday 9.

Daily, mountain bike and gravel circuits will also be available as well as other activities and excursions. A closing ceremony will punctuate the event on Sunday August 10, with a parade in downtown Orléans of more than 4,000 cycle tourists.

The federal village and the office will be installed in the CO'Met exhibition center. “We will find the commercial part there, with cycling outfits, accessories, electrification systems for bicycles…”, lists Pascal Ricois. “There will also be artisans, wine growers, culinary specialties from the Centre-Val de Loire region,” he adds.

A federal campsite will be erected on agricultural land of around twenty hectares, developed south of rue des Montées, in the communes of Orléans and Saint-Jean-le-Blanc. It will be able to accommodate 3,500 to 4,000 campers on more than 2,000 sites. Participants can also be accommodated in lodges, guest rooms, homestays and even in high schools in the metropolis.

Registration begins in a month

Registrations will begin in mid-January 2025 on the Sfic website. People who are not registered with a club will still be able to register by purchasing a weekly or daily discovery card.

During this major summer event, “cyclists from more than twenty countries will be present, notably from Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Portugal”, indicates the president of Orléans-Cyclo-Touriste.

A first!

He and the club members appreciate the chance of hosting such an event. The Federal International Cycle Tourism Week takes place each year in a different city: Roanne (Loire) in 2024, Pont-à-Mousson (Meurthe-et-Moselle) in 2023, Loudéac (Côtes-d'Armor) in 2022.

Pascal Ricois remembers that the Centre-Val de Loire was the scene of this demonstration “in Mer in 1994 and in Châteauroux in 2006. It comes around once every twenty years”, he smiles.

This is the first time that it has taken place in the Loiret. Suffice it to say that the members of Orléans-Cyclo-Tourisme – which is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2024 – are ready to take up the challenge: “We are aware that it will only happen once in our cycling lives!”