Postponed, the Tour de France (scheduled from June 27 to July 19, installed from August 29 to September 20), and Roland-Garros (which was to be contested from May 18 to June 7, before moving from September 20 to October 4) are still accompanied by question marks related to the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tuesday, Edouard Philippe, in presenting to the National Assembly the executive plan to restart the country in stages, had excluded the holding of mass event of more than 5,000 people before September.
Thursday, Roxana Maracineanu, at the microphone of RMC , clarified by evoking the great events hoped for in September: "We will take a little time before seeing competitions where people are in contact, where they run together on a ground, pedal together in a platoon. We will have to be patient, move forward with caution and not make plans for the comet for nothing. If, in September, things get even better, all the events scheduled on the calendar, such as the Tour de France, Roland-Garros, or other major events, could be held. These two events require spectators, ticketing for Roland-Garros, joy and enthusiasm for the Tour de France. They will only be held if there is authorization to have the public. They will not be done in camera. Afterwards, there is no point today in making fiction politics ”.
"A closed session on the Tour de France? Unimaginable"
Christian PrudhommeIn early April, in the columns of La Montagne , Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour de France, had assured that he could not imagine the Great Loop without the spectators (10 to 12 million estimated each summer on the roads) who bring to test its strength and color. "A Tour behind closed doors is unimaginable," he said, explaining being aware of the uncertainties linked to the situation: "In Tour de France, the most important is France. It's the health situation that counts. ” Jean Pitallier, former president of the French Cycling Federation (from 2001 to 2009), told Ouest-France that he was fiercely "against" the holding of the Grande Boucle this year. And to explain: "I think the Tour de France should not take place. It would be regrettable, of course, if it did not take place, but to postpone it for a year, he would come out of it growing up. It was already canceled during the wars, and it has recovered. I don't mind being told that it was in another era, but precisely there, the era requires us to be careful. Obviously, there is a financial problem, but small businesses, merchants who are going to go bankrupt, will find it difficult to recover while the Tour can deal with it. The runners as the others will recover, it is enough to have the will… "
The unknown linked to the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic prohibiting short- and medium-term forecasts, Roxana Maracineau summed up on RMC : "My role as Minister of Sports is to be optimistic, reassuring, but in at the same time to be careful and realistic. The reality is what the pandemic curve will impose on us. I cannot be sure. It is too early to decide on a postponement or cancellation of the Tour de France. We discuss this very regularly with the organizer ASO , it will be up to him to tell us when it will be imperative to make a decision. ”
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