The first stage of the Étoile de Bessèges, the main back-to-school cycling event on the French calendar, which was to be held around Bellegarde (Gard) on Wednesday, was canceled due to the farmers' movement, at the request of the prefecture, a- we learned Tuesday from the organizers.
The decision was taken by the Gard prefecture, said the president of Étoile de Bessèges, Claudine Fangille-Allègre.
The organization of the event approached the farmers' unions to find out if they intended to neutralize the race.
“They just asked us to speak, which we accepted,” explained Ms. Fangille-Allègre.
But the prefecture preferred not to take any risks.
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Cosnefroy and Pedersen at the start of the race
“The organizer took the decision in consultation with the Gard prefecture following a meeting in the afternoon during which we presented three major points to them,” explains the Gard prefecture, cited by L 'Team.
The authorities had warned that a demonstration would cut the route, that the roads serving the race would be saturated due to the closure of the motorways and that the police would also be mobilized.
The 54th Étoile de Bessèges, which brings together nineteen teams of seven runners, including the Dane Mads Pedersen (Lidl Trek), 2019 world champion, and the Frenchman Benoît Cosnefroy (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), should therefore start on Thursday from Marguerittes (Gard), departure town for the 2nd stage, said the organizers.
The runners must then reach Rousson.