2023-12-13 18:05:13
For the 15th time in a row, the start of Paris-Nice will be from Yvelines, next Sunday March 3. The race to the sun, which traditionally opens the international cycling season in Europe, has its habits in the department. And after Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, Plaisir, Mantes-la-Ville and La Verrière in 2023, it is the town of Mureaux which was chosen to serve as the launching pad for the event organized by Amaury Sport Organization (ASO ).
The information will be made official this Tuesday morning in Versailles, in the lounges of the Yvelines departmental council linked by an agreement with ASO – which also organizes the Tour de France – until 2025.
The town of Les Mureaux will host the start and finish of the first stage of Paris-Nice. “We are obviously delighted and proud to be able to host such a prestigious event,” relishes Jean-Pierre Lignoux, president of the Vélo Club Les Mureaux. His association, which has seen champions such as track rider Grégory Baugé (today coach of the French Olympic team), intend to take advantage of the event to make people talk about him again.
Despite the shortage of volunteers, the club with 33 licensees, which is organizing the final of the Île-de-France cyclo-cross cup on January 21 at the Verneuil-sur-Seine leisure center, is working on a series of activities on the sidelines of this big departure from Paris-Nice 2024 edition.
The city is also awaiting the Olympic flame…
For Les Mureaux, the event will mark the launch of a year more than ever focused on sport. And it is no coincidence that the municipality’s greeting card is displayed in the colors of all sports. Three days before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the popular city of 33,500 inhabitants will have the honor of seeing the Olympic flame pass by on Tuesday July 23. An honor for a “Land of Games” since Les Mureaux hosted the sailing events of the “Parisian” Games of 1900 and 1924.
On this occasion, the nautical club, whose buildings which house the Paris Sailing Circle (CVP) date from the end of the 19th century, will undergo a major facelift. The site is built on flood-prone land on the banks of the Seine and it is necessary, in particular, to change the reinforced concrete piles. Beyond the work to bring it up to standard, the roof and facades will also get a second lease of life.
The project, the cost of which amounts to 750,000 euros, benefits from exceptional aid of 250,000 euros from the Yvelines department. It should be completed next spring in order to celebrate the centenary of the 1924 Games in June.
In Mureaux (Yvelines), the sailing circle of the 1900 and 1924 Olympic Games has almost never been renovated since. LP/Stéphane Corby
At the end of this restoration, the place will serve as an experimentation site for the nautical activities of the future connected parasport health institute (ISPC), built in Mureaux on the Bécheville plateau. This future center of excellence, unique in the world, a major legacy of the 2024 Games for Yvelines, will be considered the Insep of the Paralympics. From 2026, it will encourage the practice of physical activity among people with disabilities. The laying of its first stone is planned for the passing of the Olympic flame on July 23. Quite a symbol.
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