Paris (AFP)

After the Euro football tournament and the Tokyo Olympics, the Tour de France remains the last of the giant sporting events to remain standing. But the coronavirus pandemic poses questions less than a hundred days from the Great start of the 2020 edition scheduled for June 27 in Nice.

. Is the Tour in danger?

Cycling is at a standstill, at least until the end of April, the date fixed last week by the International Cycling Union (UCI). In reality, no World Tour race, ie the calendar of the elite, will take place before May 31, the first day of the Dauphiné which is also a race organized by ASO, responsible for the Tour de France. The Giro, which was due to leave Hungary on May 9, is one of the first events to be missed.

As for ASO, silence is de rigueur. "We hope that the situation, obviously first of all for the good of the country, will be settled before", declared last week the director of the Tour Christian Prudhomme, before recalling the important delay, three months, which still separates us from the Grand departure. But the situation is scrutinized from all sides. According to concordant sources, AFP learned that partners had been polled on the assumption of an edition with restrictions of the public and the advertising caravan.

"We are in touch with ASO," recognized Minister of Sports Roxana Maracineanu on Monday at France Inter microphone. By emphasizing "the capital importance" of the event. Since its creation in 1903, the Tour, which has become a phenomenon of society as much as of sport, was only stopped by the two world wars.

. Who decides ?

If the Tour de France is privately owned, its nature - 21 days of racing -, its size - 10 to 12 million people on the roadside - and its importance - it is the keystone of its sport - make it dependent on state services. To stick to this single figure: some 29,000 police, gendarmes and firefighters are mobilized at one time or another on the test to ensure his safety.

Since Nicolas Sarkozy, the various presidents of the Republic have regularly come during the race. Emmanuel Macron was still present on July 20, at the finish of the stage at the Col du Tourmalet. From there to think that the final decision concerning the Tour will be taken at the highest summit of the State ...

. What is the position of the teams?

"If there is no Tour de France, the whole cycling model could collapse," says Belgian Patrick Lefevere, the boss of the Deceuninck team, describing the hypothesis of "total disaster" 'a cancellation. "The anchor of the season is the Tour", confirms to AFP Marc Madiot, head of the Groupama-FDJ team and president of the National Cycling League.

The various team managers contacted by AFP are on the same line. "There must be a Tour de France. Afterwards, it is the state of health that will determine (its viability)", says Marc Madiot, who relegates to the background plans the possible sporting inequality. "Not everyone will be at the same level of preparation but the situation is extremely fluctuating, from one country to another, and from one day to another."

"Events must take place even if sports equity is not guaranteed," added Cédric Vasseur, his Cofidis counterpart, ready to consider postponing the Tour if necessary: ​​"Today is premature But why not postpone it if the sanitary situation requires it? Why not in August? " In this hypothesis, the postponement of the Olympic Games announced Tuesday releases dates in the international calendar.

. What do the runners think?

"I would be especially worried because if we cancel it, it would mean that the pandemic has worsened," replied Francetvsport Thibaut Pinot, one of the favorites of the next edition. Faced with the eventuality, the Franc-Comtois does not want to think too much about it, any more than Julian Alaphilippe: "I don't want to imagine a year without the Tour de France, it would be terrible for cycling."

"The bike at the moment is completely derisory, insists Pinot however. There is so much more important than knowing if the Tour will be canceled or postponed". Romain Bardet agrees and expresses his "hope that there will be a way out of the crisis by the Tour."

"It seems complicated to me to think that the Tour can be held completely normally," he said Tuesday about an event that attracts an international audience: "In terms of physical presence and spectators on the edge of the road, I can hardly imagine that the Tour de France 2020 could be identical to the one we experienced last year. "

© 2020 AFP