Special measures on the next three stages, in the red zone

Spectators along the roads of the Tour de France, during the 13th stage on September 11, 2020. -

Special measures for public access to the start and finish areas have been taken for the next three stages of the Tour de France, which take place in departments classified in the red zone due to the coronavirus.

The organizers announced on Saturday morning, before the start of the 14th stage in Clermont-Ferrand, these modifications, similar to those which settled the Grand Départ in Nice a fortnight ago.

"Prefectural decisions are taken department by department," Tour director Christian Prudhomme told AFP.

The two major alpine stages do not fall within this framework

The next three stages of the eight remaining to run are planned in departments which were classified Friday in “red zone” by the government, namely the Rhône, Ain and Isère.

The rest of the race, including the two major alpine stages planned at the Col de la Loze (Wednesday) and La Roche-sur-Foron (Thursday), does not fall within this framework.

Everything we learned in this crazy stage of the Tour in Cantal via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/GyutXMFaYF

- 20 Minutes Sport (@ 20minutesSport) September 11, 2020

Saturday, the gauge of the number of spectators, which was set at 3,500 people, was reduced to 2,500 people, for the start area of ​​the 14th stage in Clermont-Ferrand.

While these measures only concern the start and finish areas of the stages, access has also been restricted on most major climbs, in accordance with what has been adopted since the start of the Great Loop, in order to avoid public groups.

On the other hand, these decisions do not concern the presence of spectators along the route of the race for which, recalls the organizing company (ASO), "the wearing of a mask is compulsory".

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