Ecologists, Saint-Emilion… Why the Tour de France still snubs Bordeaux

The Alberto Contador yellow jersey during the last tour of the Tour de France in Bordeaux in 2010. -

• If the Tour de France will stop at Libourne and Saint-Emilion, it will not pass through Bordeaux in 2021.

• Some see this decision as a sanction from the organizers after strong criticism from elected environmentalists in the last edition.

  But there are other explanations.

• Pierre Hurmic, the new green mayor has already announced that the city is a candidate for the 2022 edition.

Still missed!

As for ten years now, the people of Bordeaux will not see the Tour de France in 2021. A paradox for the city most visited (except Paris) by the Grande Boucle since 1903 (81 times).

Small consolation prize, it will suffice to travel a few kilometers east of the Gironde to see it.

It will pass through Libourne and Saint-Emilion, on July 16 and 17 during this 108th edition.

If for almost a decade Bordeaux had not applied because it was limited to hosting one major event per year (Euro 2016, Top14 semi-final, etc.), the municipality confirms that, this time -Here, an application has been submitted by Nicolas Florian (LR) in 2019 and recently supported by Pierre Hurmic, his successor.

So why does the Tour de France still snub Bordeaux?

The route of the Tour de France 2021. - AFP / ASO

Too green a city?

No one will say it publicly, so as not to offend either the new ecological municipality, or the organizers of the Grande Boucle.

But this decision to go through the Gironde while being careful to bypass Bordeaux can of course be seen as a sanction to the strong criticism of elected ecologists on the Tour de France this summer, some deeming it "polluting and macho".

Pierre Hurmic wishes to cut short any controversy in the

“We are not disappointed.

I hear a lot that the Tour does not come to Bordeaux because of the ecologists.

But it seems to me that the Tour hasn't been there for ten years, so it wasn't because of us.

"

Christian Prudhomme turns on the green mayors who criticized the Tour https://t.co/aQxx5UFqYy

- 20 Minutes (@ 20Minutes) September 18, 2020

For his part, Christian Prudhomme, the director of the race, prefers not to talk about the subject and affirms that the grouped candidature Libourne - Saint-Emilion arrived much earlier on his office than that of Bordeaux.

There would therefore be no link between the controversies of the summer and this choice.

He recalls, for example, that Tours, an ecological city, will host the Tour in 2021 and "hopes to go to Bordeaux in the years to come".

A winning duo against Bordeaux

The cities of Libourne and Saint-Emilion hit the jackpot.

The first will be the city of arrival (July 16, after 203 km from Moureux) and departure.

The second will welcome the finish of the penultimate stage after a 31 km time trial in the middle of the vines.

"It's magic, relishes the mayor Bernard Lauret with

it is very good news for all our territory given the economic context and, in addition, we could have a very strong sporting stake".

As in 1996 during the last tour of the Tour de France in his town, above all known and recognized for its wine appellation, he will be on the finish line to applaud the runners.

The yellow jersey Bjarne Riis during the 1996 time trial in Saint-Emilion.

- PATRICK KOVARIK / AFP

For him, there is no doubt, it is the joint candidacy with his neighbor Libournais that made the difference against Bordeaux.

Alone, in 2019, his case had not been accepted.

Bernard Lauret also specifies that "Christian Prudhomme now wants a 30 km time trial and not more than 60. It is more interesting to do it with us coming from Libourne than to go to Bordeaux by a national road. ".

While the city of Libourne is already planning four days of celebration around the event, the city of Saint-Emilion is considering organizing a wine festival at the same time so that spectators stay several days on site and in particular benefit from the castles of the corner.

All this will depend on the evolution of the health crisis.

A place already reserved for 2022?

But this refusal is ultimately perhaps a bad for a good for Bordeaux.

It would seem that the city is still in the small papers of ASO (Amaury Sport Organization).

Pierre Hurmic has confirmed a new candidacy for 2022 and affirmed that Christian Prudhomme is already ready to work with him on it.

For now, we just know that the 109th edition will start from Copenhagen in Denmark.

By then, the Covid-19 epidemic may have ended.

Bordeaux in any case hopes that a rider will finally succeed Mark Cavendish, the last winner in the sprint in the city of Gironde, on July 23, 2010.

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