The Tour de France blocked. Caught up this Tuesday afternoon by environmental activists who set out on the road, 38 kilometers from the arrival of the day in Megève. After Roland-Garros in May and a few blocking operations on the Paris ring road, Last Renovation activists shut down the Grande Boucle for about ten minutes and caused a micmac within the peloton. Asked by Release, the organization confirms to be at the origin of the blockage. “A dozen people came from Paris and Rhône-Alpes especially for this stage. We had targeted the place because it was in a straight line, therefore less dangerous for the runners.we explain at Last renovation.
The group claims “having nothing against the riders and the Tour, even if there is an anti-ecological dimension to the caravan. The action is above all a means of putting pressure on the government. We ask him to act” against global warming. And to say “dismayed” by the words of the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, and Emmanuel Macron, who wish to set up “radical measures and do nothing in reality”.
The Tour de France has lost the habit of such political demonstrations. The latest dated back to 2018, when dozens of farmers tried to block the passage using bales of straw and sheep, in protest against declining agricultural aid. The police used tear gas extensively.
Last Renovation targets major sporting events, to give a “scope” to their message. In a letter addressed to Emmanuel Macron, to whom they remind that his government has been condemned for climate inaction, the activists had asked “that the government immediately undertake to ensure and fully finance the energy renovation of the housing of all households in a situation of energy poverty, by 2030 and to make the overall renovation of the French housing stock compulsory within six months by 2040».
On the organization’s website, Alice, a 32-year-old activist, testifies: “I would prefer not to come to this. I would rather be with my grandfather, be quiet on my sofa watching the Tour de France, while the government does its job. But that’s not the reality.”