The Tour de France will adapt to the outcome of the legislative elections in France as well as to possible tensions after the vote, its director Christian Prudhomme indicated on Friday June 28 on the eve of the start in Florence.
“What will be the potential reactions, in the street, of people? That’s the question. All I can say is that we will adapt.”he told a few journalists including AFP, while the far-right is well ahead in the polls.
“We are in the same configuration as last year with the riots in the suburbs”, he added. In 2023, the Grande Boucle had already started abroad, from Bilbao to the Spanish Basque Country, at the height of tensions, before the situation calmed down as the peloton entered France.
28,000 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters
“At the Tour de France there will be the 28,000 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters that we have every year. I cannot give a description of what will happen. As an organizer of cycling races, we are always adapting, whatever the reason, whether it’s weather or politics.”he said again.
This year, the Tour will be in Italy again for the first round of the legislative elections on Sunday before returning to France on Tuesday. The second round of the elections, on Sunday July 7, coincides with the stage “white paths” in Troyes where the system was adjusted to facilitate access to polling stations.
