“We are in the configuration of last year with the riots in the suburbs”: the Tour de France is preparing for the results of the legislative elections

The boss of the Tour spoke on the issue of security around the Grande Boucle. MAXPPP – CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON

The Tour de France will adapt to the result of the legislative elections in France as well as possible tensions after the vote, indicated its director Christian Prudhomme on Friday June 28 on the eve of the departure from Florence.

"What will be the potential reactions, in the street, of people ? That's the question. All I can say is that we will adapt", he told a few journalists including ;AFP, while the far-right is well ahead in the polls.

"We are in the configuration of last year with the riots in the suburbs", a he added. In 2023, the Grande Boucle had already started abroad, from Bilbao to the Spanish Basque Country, at the height of tensions, before the situation calmed down when the peloton entered France.

28,000 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters

"There will be on the Tour de France the 28,000 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters that we have every year. I cannot give a description of what will happen. As a cycling race organizer, you're always adapting, whatever the reason, whether it's weather or politics", he declared again.

This year, the Tour will again be in Italy during the first round of legislative elections on Sunday before returning to France on Tuesday. The second round of elections, on Sunday July 7, coincides with the stage "des chemins blanc" in Troyes where the system has been adjusted to facilitate access to polling stations.