Paris 2024 Olympic Games: detailed route of the flame, expected delegations… Sète is impatiently awaiting the Olympic Games

La flamme embarquera à bord d'une barque de joutes sur le Cadre Royal. Midi Libre – JEROME BELLUIRE

Midi Libre unveils the official route that the Olympic flame will take on May 13 in Sète. Several foreign delegations are also expected in the coming months to prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Sète and part of the Thau basin will be entitled to their moment of “glory”, on May 13, for the passage through the territory of the Olympic flame. Subject to a visit by the organizing committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) at the end of last October, the torch's journey has been completed for a few days.

Only one detail is missing, which is not one: knowing where precisely the flame will leave from to cross the Thau pond at the very beginning of the afternoon. We know that Balaruc-les-Bains was lucky enough to be chosen, but a technical meeting next week must determine whether the river shuttle will leave from the pontoon of the thermal baths (the wish of Mayor Gérard Canovas) or from that says “pool”. Security reasons still prevent this story from being resolved.

The route will be ultra-secure

Safety. This will be the watchword during this crossing of Sète and the Etang de Thau. In total, six “runners” will escort each of the 35 flame bearers across the territory. The Olympic committee also asks that the public never be seated at height. Furthermore, in addition to the police, between 500 and 600 barriers will be mobilized along the entire route, where cars will not have the right of way.

If the initial wish of the Agglo was to pass the flame through its 14 municipalities, the final route inevitably leaves some disappointed: only Balaruc and Sète were selected. On May 13, the flame, which will arrive from Millau, will actually take two routes, called “agile” and “engaged”. The first porters will set off at 11:30 a.m. from Sémaphore (Fort Richelieu), in Sète. They will climb to the cross of Mont Saint-Clair, taking the Chemin de Saint-Clair. Something to stretch your legs!

On the Cadre Royal aboard a jousting boat!

After a lunch break, the flame bearers will resume service from Balaruc-les-Bains at 1:30 p.m. This is the start of the “committed” route. The flame will cross the Etang de Thau aboard a shuttle, the profile of which has not yet been revealed. It must, however, symbolize the identity of Sète and the territory. Surrounded by a “security bubble”, the torch will be escorted by hand-picked boats, controlled by the maritime gendarmerie.

Also read: Paris 2024 Olympic Games: South Africa, Kazakhstan, Cuba… foreign delegations expected in Sète

Once arriving at Sète station, the flame will cross avenue Victor-Hugo where, on the square, a series of events is scheduled. The Quai Philippe-Régy, the Pont Virla and the Quai du Maréchal-de-Lattre-de-Tassigny will be covered. Until the statue of the jouster.

L’esplanade Roger-Thérond, gathering place

’Here, the flame will sail on the Cadre Royal aboard a jousting boat (preferably blue)! The river trip will be short, since the relay will resume on the Quai de la Marine, before heading towards Le Môle via the Paul-Valéry ramp and the Jean-Baptiste-Marty promenade. Then, head for the Maréchal-Leclerc promenade to the Corniche, then descend via the Corniche de Neuburg, to the Roger-Thérond esplanade at 2:15 p.m. There, activities will have started from in the morning, in the presence of schoolchildren… from the 14 municipalities of the Agglomeration. There will be sports!