Frustration as last-minute L'Étape du Tour date change due to French election leaves thousands of cyclists with logistical headache

With just three weeks until L'Étape du Tour, the major sportive has changed the date of the event, bringing it forward a day to Saturday 6 July due to French President Emmanuel Macron calling a snap election.

The major sportive, always attended by a large contingent of travelling British cyclists, follows the route of one of the hardest stages of each year's Tour de France and was expected to involve 15,000 amateur riders taking on stage 20 from Nice to Col de la Couillole on Sunday 7 July — via four major mountain passes, including the Col du Turini.

However, in a much-criticised statement, the event's organisers and the Mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, communicated that the sportive will now take place a day earlier, on Saturday 6 July, due to the election in France, a switch that has given many a logistical headache considering travel and accommodation was likely booked well in advance.

#LEtapeduTour AVANCÉE AU 6 JUILLET
Tous les participants recevront les informations par mail.#LEtapeduTour MOVED FORWARD TO 6 JULY
All participants will receive information by e-mail.

Plus d’informations/More information 👉 lhttps://bit.ly/3KDpekw pic.twitter.com/VzeDAXWX5M

— L'Étape du Tour de France (@letapedutour) June 11, 2024

The date change follows President Macron calling a snap election in reaction to a poor result in the European Parliament vote last week, the French now returning to the ballot box in a few weeks for parliamentary elections where two rounds of voting will take place on 30 June and 7 July.

Mayor of Nice, Mr Estrosi, said in a statement that it is "no longer possible to organise" L'Étape du Tour for the original date and that "in consultation with the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes Department, Hughes Moutouh, and ASO the event organiser, we have jointly agreed to move the race forward to Saturday, 6 July 2024".

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"By bringing it forward by one day, we can make sure that the 15,000 participants get to live out their passion in our corner of the world and, at the same time, we can guarantee that all the voters in our department have no problems getting to their polling stations on Sunday, 7 July for the second round of the legislative election," he said.

The route remains the same and the event's organisers communicated that the race number retrieval village opening hours have been extended and shuttle services will also be "rescheduled as needed".

"This is insane"

Needless to say, changing the date of a major international event where people travel from around the world to take part, impacting accommodation and travel plans that have been booked months in advance, has not gone down well with many participants planning to be on the startline next month.

One of the hundreds of cyclists to respond to the organisers' social media announcement was Frazer Watson, who called the decision "insane".

"No accommodation to book, flights on the Saturday, plans made," he summarised. Another British-based participant said: "You can't expect 15,000 riders to change logistics at less than four weeks' notice. Has to be an option to defer."

The author of the Greatest Cycling Climbs book series, Simon Warren, wrote: "15,000 people turning up in Nice, flights paid for. Hotels paid for and they just change the f*****g date of the event. Are you serious?"

Doug Graham, another British rider travelling to the French Riviera for the sportive, asked: "Serious question. How do I get a refund? Surely I am entitled to one, I can't shift my dates by a day."

It's not just the Brits either, a cyclist travelling from Belgium saying: "What the actual F? Three weeks before the race starts, you guys decide just to move the race one day earlier? When people are coming from all over Europe, and have been booking things months in advance, just so to be ready for this race and find accommodation available, which always sells out very fast. How is this even possible?"

Riders travelling from within France joined in the uproar, Vianney Martel calling the decision "incredible" and showing "a lack of respect for those who come from far away and we had to organise travel and accommodation well in advance".

The 138km route for this year's event takes riders from Nice to the Col de la Couillole and passes the Col de Braus, Col du Turini and Cole de la Colmaine before the final ascent to the finish, racking up nearly 5,000m of vertical gain and mirroring the penultimate stage of the men's race that the Tour de France peloton will tackle on July 20.

It is not the first time the event's organisers have come in for criticism, the 2020 edition cancelled in June 2020 due to the pandemic, however after months of silence would-be participants were informed they would have to wait more than a year and a half to get their money back, ASO instead issuing a voucher that could be used against future events.