Tour de France may move to August after Macron extends sport ban into July
Hopes remain that the Tour de France may yet take place in August despite its postponement because of the coronavirus pandemic, with Geraint Thomas insisting “in my head it’s definitely going to happen”.
On Monday night the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, in effect ruled out the possibility of the Tour starting as planned when he banned large public events in the country until 11 July. The race was to have begun in Nice on 27 June and event organisers have already ruled out staging the Tour without crowds lining the way. Now competing teams have adjusted their expectations to a start later in the summer.
“Based on what [Macron] told us, it seems conceivable to hold the Tour de France in the course of August,” said Marc Madiot, president of the French cycling league and director of the Groupama-FDJ cycling team.
Madiot’s thoughts were echoed by Vincent Lavenu, the team manager of AG2R La Mondiale. “What’s essential is that the Tour is held,” he said.
Organisers are also determined to continue with the event, which is crucial to the revenues of the teams and the sports’ governing bodies. Any official announcement, however, is not expected before the end of this month.
Meanwhile, the 2018 champion has said he is desperate for the race to take place. Thomas, who finished second behind his Colombian Ineos teammate Egan Bernal last summer, also spoke of the importance of the Tour for athletes currently deprived of their livelihood. “It represents the sport and certainly it’s the thing that’s keeping me going at the minute,” he said. “You’ve just got that target down the line. It’s hard when you don’t know when it’s going to be to try and stay in that positive frame of mind.
“In my head I’m just thinking the Tour is definitely going to happen. I don’t know when but hopefully it does. It would be great for everyone.”
Cycling has endured a series of postponements because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The women’s Tour de France has been postponed and the men’s Giro d’Italia has been called off, along with three Monument one-day races: MilanSan Remo, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. The WorldTour series has been suspended since 14 March.
Last week the sport’s governing body, the International Cycling Union (UCI), furloughed staff and cut executive salaries, citing the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics as a primary factor. The UCI has said it is working to draw up a new road racing calendar for 2020, giving priority to the Grand Tours and Monuments.