French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra spoke on Tuesday of a possible arrival of the Tour de France cyclist in the summer of 2024 "rather in Nice", at a time when the Olympic Games will take place in Paris.
A "working hypothesis among others", assured a source close to the executive.
The Paris Olympics (July 26-August 11), to which an Olympic and Paralympic council with a dozen ministers at the Elysee Palace on Monday supervised by President Emmanuel Macron were devoted, risk upsetting the summer sports program somewhat in 2024.
To avoid “the dispersion of the security forces” at this time, “the arrival of the Tour de France will be a little early and will probably not take place in Paris but rather in Nice, declared Amélie Oudéa-Castéra at the microphone of France Info .
We will probably rearrange the elements of the calendar that can be”.
No confirmation from Nice or the direction of the Tour
This year, the Tour de France arrived on July 21 in Paris, four days before the start of the Olympics in two years.
Never since 1905 has this mythical cycling event arrived outside the capital.
Contacted by AFP, the town hall of Nice "confirms nothing for the moment".
“It is a working hypothesis among others,” qualified a source close to the executive.
"We have excellent relations with the city of Nice, which has been very solid in 2020 (Editor's note: when the Tour was postponed to September due to the pandemic), the director of the Christian Prudhomme tower.
We are discussing a number of things with the town hall of Nice.
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In an interview with L'Equipe, Emmanuel Macron assured that the State would ensure that "all the cultural or sporting events that take place during this period, such as the Tour de France for example, take place either before or after, so as not to mobilize the forces of order".
The question of the mobilization of the internal security forces is a major challenge for these Olympics which will be held in two years.
There are also risks of a possible lack of private security guards at this time.
