What can you tell them other than that this chronic rage has been going on for sixty-eight years? Leaving Amsterdam, the Tour de France (we do not count the invasions of the occupied Alsace-Lorraine) stopped in Geneva in 1954 and 1913. When you have a national wonder, why not export it?

In 1909, Henry Desgrange appreciated this desire and wrote Car : “Haven’t I dreamed that next year ‘Tour de France’ (quote marks) will go from Nice to Tunis and back to Algiers via Perpignan?“Of course, Algeria and Tunisia were French, but the founding father saw well beyond the borders.

Eleven already since 2000 (soon thirteen?).

Demand has been strong, since 1954, with twenty-three times the largest outflows from abroad, excluding Monaco: six times from the Netherlands (in addition to Amsterdam, Schweningen, Leiden, s’Hertogenbosch, Rotterdam and Utrecht); Five times from Belgium (Brussels and Liege twice, Charleroi); Four times from Germany (Cologne, Frankfurt, Berlin, Dസsseldorf); Twice from Luxembourg; Twice from England (London, Leeds); One from Switzerland (Basel), one from Spain (San Sebastian) and one from Ireland (Dublin).

So we add Copenhagen and Denmark, for which the landing of the tour from July 1 to 3 is an important event where Queen Margaret stays on December 31st, in her congratulatory message: “This summer, the world’s largest cycling race, the Tour de France, will feature several stages in Denmark. The departure will be in Copenhagen, and the journey will continue from Rosskild over the Great Belt Bridge and end at Sണ്ടnderberg. This will be a great event to show how amazing Denmark is. ”

Two months later, 82 – year – old Queen Margaret will celebrate her 50th birthday. Let’s see if the English popularity of Elizabeth II, who won the tour from London to Leeds in 2007 and 2014, is on par with Denmark.

For the host country and the tour, this is a win-win or, as we now say in Pelton, “win-win”: the tour will advertise beyond its borders, justifying its international character and the excellence of its organization. Ensures its complete success. Only the UNESCO crown was lost.

Instead, host countries benefit from massive publicity about their cities, their landscapes, their roads, and their gastronomy. Which advertising campaign is most effective? By the way, France also contains some lessons, for example in the case of road development and cycle paths. During the second phase of Ziro in May, evidence was again found on the roads of Hungary: amateur cyclists were seen tens of thousands of kilometers safely following Peloton, and on wide and marked tracks, riders even exchanged friendly signs with them. Transient companions. On which road in France can we do this?

If we want to express a reservation, it has to be multiplied by the outflows: two in the 1950s, one in the 1960s, three in the 1970s, four in the 1980s, three in the 1990s, but eleven in the 2000s (2002) -2004-2007- 2009-2010-2012-2014-2015-2017-2019-2022), Bilbao, who will not be judged in 2023, is subject to confirmation that Florence will never come to Italy in 2024 (just a few days before the Paris Olympics). Gazette Dello Sport. This is probably a little too much and should not become an exception rule.

Two years before the wall collapsed

Apart from economic and tourism aspects, departures from abroad can also play a political role: In 1987, when the tour left West Berlin, the message was clear. Berlin Mayor Eberhard Deepgen compares this departure. “The oasis of freedom in the communist world“Jacques Chirac, who arrived to launch the French Prime Minister, delivers a message to Mikhail Gorbachev, the Master of Moscow, before the Reichstag:”How much better is it to show that a new spirit reigns in Europe today (…) rather than destroying the barriers that prevent citizens from meeting where they want to be and where they want to be?”

The idea of ​​an infiltration into East Berlin was clear in the minds of the organizers. One of them, Xavier Louis, says in his book Save the Tour! The idea was handed over to the authorities in the eastern region by Michael Silberman, the sports adviser to the General Secretary of the French Communist Party, George Marshause. Margot Honecker, wife of Education Minister and GDR President Eric Honecker, agreed. As they say, Gorbachev, about his open desires. But the authorities of the East German Communist Party finally said “you”. Too bad for the symbol. So the runners were looking east from a distance. Before the stage began, half of Peloton was going to urinate against the wall, and the other way would start a destruction that would happen two years and four months later.

Paradox: The title was inspired by Paul Piazzi, who wore a yellow jersey when he left Berlin. Team : “Piaseki is heading west.” The result undoubtedly pleased (and only) Polish Pope John Paul II, who prayed for the end of the Soviet Union. One day, to welcome the return of peace to Europe, how can you not dream that the tour will leave the queue or Mariupol?