The Olympic flame stops in the North this Tuesday, July 2. It will leave Avesnes-sur-Helpe early in the morning to reach Lille in the evening, where the Olympic cauldron will be lit by Dany Boon on the Champ-de-Mars esplanade.
A day of celebration in the North. The Olympic flame will begin its 46th stage this Tuesday, July 2, with a journey through the most populated department in France. It will leave Avesnes-sur-Helpe early in the morning and pass through six other northern towns before reaching Lille in the evening, where the Olympic cauldron will be lit on the Champ-de-Mars esplanade.
Throughout the day, events are planned in the stopover towns, where the flame will be relayed by the various bearers, some of whom are well known to the Lille public.
· A tour of eight cities in the North
The Olympic flame will leave from the fortified town ofAvesnes-sur-Helpeclose to the Belgian border, around 8:25 this Tuesday morning, for a journey of about twenty minutes. She will then join Dunkirkwhere it must pass in front of the 58-metre-high belfry, before leaving the coastal town at around 10:17 a.m. for its next stage.
The flame is expected around 10:55 a.m. Wallers-Arenberga town well known to cycling enthusiasts since it is there that the famous Trouée d’Arenberg is located, where the Paris-Roubaix race passes each year.
Cambrai, known for its candies called “nonsense”, will welcome the Olympic flame early in the afternoon. The torch will then move to Tourcoing et Roubaixwhere his stage will end in front of the velodrome.
Finally, the Olympic flame will pass through Douai at the end of the afternoon, before joining Lille in the evening. She will then begin her stroll at the headquarters of the metropolis, before passing through the Europe district and the heart of the city, bordering emblematic places of the capital of Flanders: the Place du Théâtre, the Grand’Place, the Rue Nationale and the banks of the Deûle.
It will end its journey on the Champ-de-Mars esplanade for the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
· Entertainment throughout the route
Numerous activities are planned throughout the day on the Olympic flame route. In Lille, the city is organizing a large parade of sports clubs from Lille, Lomme and Hellemmes for the occasion. Nearly 70 clubs, or nearly 2,000 athletes, will wander through the city. Musicians from the Lille Conservatory and the Municipal Harmony will take over the Place du Théâtre from 3:15 p.m. with dancers from the Waka Waka association for musical entertainment.
On the Champ-de-Mars esplanade, where the end-of-stage celebration of the flame will be held, entertainment is planned from 3:30 p.m. with DJ, presenter and giant screen, as well as entertainment around music and sprot .
In Dunkirk, the Olympic flame will be set off from Place du Centenaire, with musical entertainment, sports and water activities planned alongside the passage of the flame. The Paul Garein Big Band Orchestra will perform for the occasion, as will the Dunkirk singer Hugo Davenne, who will perform his song “Tendres corsaires” on the forecourt of the belfry. Primary school pupils will also be involved, with 5,000 children who will salute the passage of the Olympic flame.
The students will also be mobilized in Cambrai, where they will parade all around Place Aristide-Briand in the company of local associations, each of which will brandish a flag in the club’s colors. The stadium will also open its doors to the public after the parade and until the end of the afternoon.
A giant picnic bringing together children from local schools will be organized in Roubaix from 12:10 p.m. to 2:10 p.m., followed by sports workshops and a performance by students from the Gambetta school who won the Dance of the Games academic competition. An athletic ball will take place to close the day.
Finally, the Douais water sports association will organize activities on the banks of the Scarpe near the courthouse, including a rowing demonstration. The flame village, located on the Place du Général-de-Gaulle, will be the rallying point for local sports associations. The day will end with a closing concert by the group Magic System at 5:45 p.m.
· Dany Boon, Miss France, Raphaël Varane…
As in all the other stopover cities, the Olympic flame will be relayed through its northern route by bearers. Some are also far from being unknown to the public: the northern actor, producer and director Dany Boon will notably light the Olympic cauldron on the Champ-de-Mars esplanade in Lille, which will be able to accommodate up to 17,000 people at the end day.
Eve Gilles, crowned Miss France 2024, will also carry the flame in the department, as will the 2018 world champion footballer Raphaël Varane.
Other local sports figures will also be carrying the torch: despite criticism of not having released some of his players for the Olympics, the president of Losc Olivier Létang will be a torchbearer, as will Barthélémy Chinenyeze, central defender of the French volleyball team and Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020.
In Lille, the city itself chose four local figures to carry the Olympic flame: Mila Monnanteuil, licensed at LUC BMX and among the best French specialists in this discipline; Souhad Ghazouani, Paralympic weightlifting champion in London in 2012, and holder of five Olympic medals; David Sombé, vice-world champion in the 4×400 meters relay at the world championships in Budapest last year, and Serge Leroy, deputy secretary general of the city’s Municipal Sports Office and three-time world champion in javelin throwing.
· Traffic restrictions
The public is expected in large numbers this Tuesday in all the stopover towns along the route of the Olympic flame in the North. As such, traffic restrictions are put in place.
In Dunkirk, parking will be prohibited on the entire route from 8 p.m. this Monday, and until the end of the passage of the flame on Tuesday (around approximately 11 a.m.). Traffic will also be prohibited on the flame route from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. this Tuesday, and the Citadel bridge will be kept in the raised position from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
In Cambrai, traffic restrictions and bans are also expected between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. along the entire route and on certain adjacent streets.
Parking will be prohibited from 8 p.m. this Monday along the flame route in Roubaix, where traffic will also be prohibited from 6 a.m. Tuesday. Traffic will also be prohibited in certain streets adjacent to the route, except for local residents. Likewise in Tourcoing, where parking is prohibited from 8 p.m. this Monday and until 8 p.m. Tuesday, on the entire route.
In Lille, parking is prohibited from 11 p.m. this Monday on the Olympic flame route, until 10 p.m. Tuesday. Traffic will be prohibited from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Tuesday.
The celebration area of the Champ-de-Mars esplanade, open to the public from 3:30 p.m., will only be accessible from the south of the Champ-de-Mars, i.e. the main entrance bridge to the citadel. The Napoleon and Petit Paradis bridges will be closed to the public.
· Public transport disrupted
The passage of the Olympic flame will be synonymous with a strike movement on the Ilévia transport network in the metropolis of Lille. Ilévia anticipates “strongly disrupted” traffic this Tuesday, with particularly significant disruptions on the tram lines: there will be a passage every 15 minutes on the shared Gare Lille Flandres-Croisé Laroche section, and 30 minutes on the Tourcoing branch. The Lille-Europe station will also not be served between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m.
On metro lines 1 and 2, the frequency will be “modified” during the day, with a service every 2 minutes 30 seconds on line 1, and every three minutes on line 2.
Significant disruptions are also expected on bus lines, with “modified frequencies and amplitudes” on some lines, while others will not run at all: these are lines 9, 30, 32, 35, 36, 51, CO1, CO3, C10, C11, C12, MWR, Z6, L91E, CITL and the Navette du Vieux-Lille (NVL).
After this passage in the North, the Olympic flame will stop in Pas-de-Calais on Wednesday July 3.
