No race in France this weekend: What now? – News

The verdict fell this Friday morning. The prefecture of Côte d’Or has canceled the Classic Chazal Dijon-Auxonne-Dijon scheduled for Sunday April 11 (read here). With the postponements or cancellations at the start of the week of the regional races in Beauvoir-Le Ferré, Assé-le-Boisne and Mésanger, there will therefore be no cycling competition in France this weekend. Other events planned for this weekend, such as Paris-Roubaix and its three races, the Circuit des Ardennes, the Tour du Charollais, the Gainsbarre, the Gislard or Redon-Redon, had given up long before. If the cancellations have multiplied since the beginning of February, it should be noted that this is the first time since last July that there will be no official race in France during a weekend while the road season is launched.

And now ? There are three Elite races left on the amateur calendar in April: the Ronde du Porhoët, the Tour de Saône-et-Loire (Coupe de France N1) and the Circuit Boussaquin. To participate, you must be a member of an N1 or registered on the various lists set out by the French Cycling Federation and validated by the Ministry of Sports (see here). With the postponements for the Men of Paris-Roubaix (1.UWT), Paris-Camembert (1.1), the Classique Grand Besançon Doubs (1.1), the Tour du Jura (1.1) and Paris-Mantes Cycliste (1.2) , no UCI race will take place in France until the 4 days of Dunkirk (2.HC), organized from May 4 to 9. On the other hand, the Women still have on their calendar the Grand Prix Féminin de Chambéry (1.2), scheduled for April 18.

SEVERAL FAN CLUBS WILL RUN THIS WEEKEND

France is “confined” to a minimum until May 2. Many races scheduled for May have already been canceled (Essor Breton and Paris-Roubaix Espoirs) or set back (the Etoile d’Or, the Grand Prix de la Somme and the Ronde de l’Isard). But there are still some on the calendar to this day, starting with the Maggioni Classique-Châtillon-Dijon, on May 1, organized by the SCO Dijon and which will depend on the goodwill of the prefect of Côte d’Or who comes … ‘cancel Dijon-Auxonne-Dijon. Later in the season, two races in June have already announced their cancellation: the Ronde de l’Oise (2.2) and the Tour Nivernais Morvan, in Elite Nationale.

Unlike last year, when the UCI and then the FFC had suspended the races, the authorities now favor the maintenance of the events that can be organized (reread the interview with Michel Callot). A decision that N1s have struggled to understand for a few weeks. Finding places in a race causes a lot of tension within the clubs. “How to seriously prepare these objectives (the Coupe de France N1, Editor’s note) while all the events are canceled out as the days go by. Where will the sporting equity be between the teams who run and those who stay at home for lack of space in the events? ”, Charlie Leconte, manager of Dunkirk Grand Littoral-Cofidis (N1) recently wondered. “It doesn’t look like anything anymore”, railed a few days ago a sports director of N1 surveyed by DirectVelo. This weekend, not all men’s N1s will be at a standstill. Team Pro Immo Nicolas Roux is competing in the Tour of Rhodes (2.2) in Greece; AC Bisontine, AG2R Citroën U23, CC Etupes, SCO Dijon and VC Villefranche Beaujolais participate in the Grand Prix de l’Échappée, held in Martigny (Switzerland) near the French border. Without forgetting the N2 or N3 present in Valais or the Niçois who are in Greece. However, these teams can no longer run in France unless their riders are among the new priority. The spring organizers continue to fight to maintain their race. Meanwhile, feverishly, the decision of the prefects. A year after the first confinement, the puzzle continues.

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