We obviously do not know the winner of the Tour de France 2024 but we already know that this 111th edition of the Grande Boucle will already go down in the history of the event. Not because it is setting off, for the first time since its creation in 1903, from Italy and the sublime Tuscan city of Florence. But because the race will not arrive in Paris. It always ended in the capital, except during the first two editions in 1903 and 1904 in Ville-d’Avray. Whether at the Cipale velodrome, in the former Parc des Princes then, since 1975 and an idea launched by journalist Yves Mourousi, on the Champs-Élysées.
But in 2024, the Tour will have to give way to the organization of the Olympic Games and the Champs-Élysées will already be invaded by the preparations for the great Olympic fortnight. It remained to designate the name of the city responsible for hosting the last pedal strokes of the peloton on July 21, 2024. It will be Nice and the famous Promenade des Anglais will replace the long Parisian straight lines.
What about the Women’s Tour?
Why Nice? Admittedly, ASO, the organizer of the Tour, has good relations with Christian Estrosi, the mayor of the Riviera city. But the argument is not enough because ASO tries to cultivate a good understanding with the city councilors of all the French cities, even if the line is sometimes parasitized with some ecological mayors of large cities. But since the Tour 2020, Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour de France, believes he is in moral debt vis-à-vis the city of Nice. The latter was to host the Grand Départ in July 2020 but, due to Covid, the Tour only started on August 29, 2020 at a time when summer tourists had already deserted the region.
Clearly, the shortfall in terms of economic benefits was obvious. Especially with a public forbidden to approach too close to the riders forced to live in the now famous health bubble of the Tour. But Christian Estrosi had agreed, “in a few seconds”, in the words of Prudhomme, to shift the Grand Départ to his city when the boss of the Grande Boucle had called him. Such flexibility is being rewarded today. The news will be made official this Thursday at the end of the morning at the Mediterranean University Center where, in particular, the mayor and Christian Prudhomme will hold a press conference.
If this question is resolved, another arises on the other hand for the holding of the women’s Tour. Due to the impossibility of mobilizing enough police forces because of the Olympics, this could take place before the men’s Tour.