A Tour without spectators? Froome doesn't see how it would be possible

While the Tour de France 2020 should start on June 27 in Nice, it will finally take place from August 29 to September 20 ... if it takes place. “In order for the Tour de France to take place, there are certain conditions that must be met, a certain number of qualifying competitions that must be able to probably take place in August, since July is not possible, noted the Minister of Sports Roxana Maracineanu on France Info last Wednesday. And then before, they have to roll in a peloton. So, for the moment, that is not the case. ” The holding of the queen test is therefore still not recorded, and the question of running the legendary test without spectators by the roadsides is also topical.

A closed-door tour: "Perhaps the right solution"

But is a Tour de France without spectators really a Tour? And is it only possible to prevent the public from approaching the route? Christopher Froome, four times winner of the event (2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017), explains on Instagram in comments reported by the BBC that he can envisage a Tour de France "behind closed doors": "In theory , you can run and be broadcast on TV. You will not have these scenes where you pass through spectator tunnels. Maybe this is the right solution for this year, I don't know. ” But the champion wonders about the feasibility of such a measure: "Will the organizers be able to keep spectators away and prevent them from gathering?"

The 34-year-old racer had missed the previous edition due to a very nasty fall in the Critérium du Dauphiné a few weeks earlier. Since his return to competition in February, he has been training hard, on the roads of South Africa a few weeks ago, and at home now ("some days I spend up to six hours on my home trainer" ). "It's pretty annoying, I've gone through every playlist I have at least 10 times, but I get over it and do the best I can." A large part of the training I did (during his rehabilitation) was indoors, so I was prepared for this period of confinement, and mentally it made it a little easier for me. ”

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