The world of sport is almost at a standstill, but there remains an irreducible Gallic. While all major sporting events have been postponed due to the coronavirus epidemic (OJ and Euro in 2021 in particular), the Tour de France is for the moment an exception. The biggest cycling race in the world, which takes place from June 27 to July 19, does not plan to change its calendar at the moment.
But the Minister of Sports Roxana Maracineanu spoke on Wednesday of the possibility of organizing it behind closed doors, without her traditional tens of thousands of spectators gathered on the side of the road. "Everything is imaginable, we have already done it for other competitions before. It does not have the same impact even if the economic model of the Tour de France is not based on ticketing as is the case for football and rugby matches, "said the minister, interviewed by France Bleu .
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A closed camera tested on Paris-Nice, but ...
The Tour de France attracts nearly 12 million spectators each year. So, is the hypothesis of an in camera edition credible? The organizer of the Grande Boucle, ASO, has already tested this device on another of its races, Paris-Nice, at the beginning of March, with stage arrivals without audiences. But what is possible on a week-long race seems much more complicated to set up during the three weeks of the Tour de France, right in the heart of the summer holidays.
Runners and teams get used to this possibility
If the possibility of a closed-door tour was unthinkable a few weeks ago, the riders and the teams are gradually becoming used to this possibility. "We should be careful not to distort the event. But it seems complicated that the Tour 2020 could be identical to that of last year in terms of physical presence and spectators on the roadsides", notes Romain Bardet, second in 2016 and third in 2017, interviewed by Europe 1. Team managers, contacted on Thursday morning, believe that it is better to have a Tour without an audience than no Tour at all.
A Great Loop without an audience would also mean the absence of the famous advertising caravan, for which nearly one in two spectators flock to the roadside every summer.
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