Tour de France: the remarkable absence of Colombian supporters
Audio 01:17
Fernando and his friends, Colombian supporters a little alone on the roads of the Tour de France this year 2020. RFI / Thomas De Saint-Léger
Text by: Thomas-Sean de Saint Leger Follow
4 min
It's an absence that does not go unnoticed: due to travel restrictions, Colombian spectators and journalists are not on the Tour de France roads this year.
A blow for the runners of the country, deprived of loud and passionate supporters, but also for the general atmosphere.
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We no longer believed in it, so when we saw a large Colombian flag in Sisteron, the finish city of the 3rd stage, we first believed in the mirage.
And then, under the yellow-blue-red banner, a small silhouette appeared.
Here is Fernando, in his fifties, who for the occasion swapped his priest's cassock for a national team jersey.
With a friend, he did not hesitate to make an hour's drive from Gréoux-les-Bains, where he has been officiating for several years, to attend the passage of the Grande Boucle: “
It's a chance, a real chance, he repeats, to be in France and to be able to see the Tour this year, when you think of all those who remained in the country.
It was important to come to represent the nation and to support our runners
”, specifies this fan of Egan Bernal and Nairo Quintana.
Cycling, a second religion
For Fernando, the priest, and for many of his compatriots, cycling is a second religion.
Each year, many of them cross the Atlantic to enhance the French roads.
In the country, the exploits of the “scarabs”, the local runners are always followed with passion, on television or on the radio, thanks to the impassioned comments of the commentators of the country.
With their speed, their enthusiasm, and their irremovable camping chairs, they too are real characters in the Tour landscape.
So this year, it is missing like a piece of the decor.
This absence is also one less asset for Colombian cyclists, who are often close to their public.
“
It's different, for sure,
explains Sergio Higuita (EF - Education First),
but I still want to give the best of myself for the fans who follow us from home on television.
In addition, as a national champion, I wear the jersey in the colors of the country, it really makes me want to not let go.
»And for the moment, it does not go too badly: on the evening of the third stage, the« scarabs »are 3 in the top 10 of the general classification.
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Tour de France 2020
Colombia
Cycling
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