At the time, in 2014, you were reluctant to host the Tour de France.
SQUEEZE : “Before, it was exclusively the city of Grenoble that financed the arrival of the Tour and as it is an event that shines throughout the territory, I wanted it to be co-financing of the entire territory. whoever pays gets on the podium is also a political display, and I don’t care if I am alone on the podium. The second element is the issues we talk about all the time: the development of the women’s bicycle, the place and image of women in the Tour, waste management and greenhouse gases. “
« The Tour must move »
Do you understand the criticisms of Grégory Doucet, the EELV mayor of Lyon, who considers the Tour de France as “macho and polluting”?
SQUEEZE : “He says that the Tour de France must evolve, especially on the question of women. Moreover, the pressure has been such that it is no longer only hostesses who put jerseys back on the podium, from this year. He also speaks the environmental question and waste management, real questions. There is the environmental impact of the caravan, which is evolving in the motorization of vehicles, but also the way of welcoming spectators in this popular mass event. Here too, the Tour must move. “
After these remarks, you felt that the Tour de France had three challenges: the dimension of women’s sport and the place of women, waste management and greenhouse gas emissions. In Grenoble, have you tried to meet these three challenges, on your own scale?
SQUEEZE : “We are very committed to women’s sport, one of the priorities of our mandate. In particular, we created the first municipal women’s football team in France, we hosted major events such as the Women’s Football World Cup and then we had the two biggest audiences in the world for women’s rugby matches: France-England and France-New Zealand in 2018. Afterwards, I’m not in charge of creating a women’s Tour de France but Christian Prudhomme has announced his return for 2022. This is an opportunity to rediscover sports practices that are more oriented towards the game, like football and rugby, and less stereotypical than what we can know with the ultra professional evolution of men’s sport. “
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In the future, do you feel that the Tour is capable of meeting these challenges on a national scale?
SQUEEZE : “Yes, but the difficulty that the Tour has to evolve is that it rotates. The cities which host it change almost every year so the pressure on the organizers of the Tour is less strong. It would be good for associations to ‘elected officials, the Urban Sport Commission of France or the Association of Mayors of France enter into a direct dialogue and exchange continuously with the organizers of the Tour rather than each community, isolated. “
“It is not because we criticize certain aspects of the Tour that we are not attached to it”
Hosting the Tour de France has positive repercussions in terms of image, in particular thanks to television broadcasting. Paradoxically, you are not afraid that welcoming the Tour will be negative for a so-called ecological city?
PRESS: “No, we have hosted it several times in the past and the Critérium du Dauphiné last year and if we look at the election results, it doesn’t seem to hurt us (laughs). The Tour remains popular. It’s not because you criticize certain aspects and want to make it evolve that you are not attached to it. I am a fan of cycling so it’s different, but there are many people who are not interested in sport and who are attached to the Tour de France. “
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From an “extraordinary sequence” (July 13, 14 and 15) to indifference (September 15, 16, 17)
Do you feel the enthusiasm of the inhabitants of the metropolis as the stage approaches?
PRESS: “This year honestly, no. Usually there are two dimensions when we host the Tour: the television broadcast which shows our mountain landscapes with fantastic images so it attracts; and the spectators because there is a colossal caravan and so people that it increases the frequentation rate of hotels and restaurants. This year, not all foreigners will come to attend the mountain stages. Then it is during the week. Normally, the arrival in Villard- de-Lans was to take place on July 14 with an extraordinary sequence: the day of rest on the 13th, the arrival in Villard on the 14th then the fireworks display, the parade, etc., then the next day a re-departure. is behind closed doors and entertainment is prohibited so it’s less fun. “
Apart from the Tour, in Grenoble, what are you doing to promote green transport, especially cycling?
SQUEEZE : “This year, we have become the first city in terms of cycling in France, which has completely exploded. Both because we have introduced a culture of cycling for all, built secure bicycle lines, thought the development of crossroads, secure car parks, etc. This year, we will certainly have achieved our objective of tripling the share of bicycles in travel. These are home-work transport but also leisure travel, it’s feminine, it is from all social backgrounds. For this, we tripled investments in cycling facilities. “
From an “extraordinary sequence” (July 13, 14 and 15) to indifference (September 15, 16, 17)
Do you feel the enthusiasm of the inhabitants of the metropolis as the stage approaches?
PRESS: “This year honestly, no. Usually there are two dimensions when we host the Tour: the television broadcast which shows our mountain landscapes with fantastic images so it attracts; and the spectators because there is a colossal caravan and so people that it increases the frequentation rate of hotels and restaurants. This year, not all foreigners will come to attend the mountain stages. Then it is during the week. Normally, the arrival in Villard- de-Lans was to take place on July 14 with an extraordinary sequence: the day of rest on the 13th, the arrival in Villard on the 14th then the fireworks display, the parade, etc., then the next day a re-departure. is behind closed doors and entertainment is prohibited so it’s less fun. “
Apart from the Tour, in Grenoble, what are you doing to promote green transport, especially cycling?
SQUEEZE : “This year, we have become the first city in terms of cycling in France, which has completely exploded. Both because we have introduced a culture of cycling for all, built secure bicycle lines, thought the development of crossroads, secure car parks, etc. This year, we will certainly have achieved our objective of tripling the share of bicycles in travel. These are home-work transport but also leisure travel, it’s feminine, it is from all social backgrounds. For this, we tripled investments in cycling facilities. “
Grenoble is a city surrounded by four massifs (Vercors, Taillefer, the Belledonne chain and the Chartreuse). Do you suffer more from the consequences of pollution?
PRESS: “We are on the 11the urban basin in terms of size and the 10e in terms of air pollution so we are more or less in our place. But our luck is that we see our pollution since we often climb into the mountains from which we perceive it. People realize this and care about it. However, one of the problems with air pollution is that it is intangible so we do not realize it. Pollution has already fallen in six years by 30% according to figures from Atmo Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (air quality control agency), and we have set ourselves the goal of reaching the standards of the WHO which, according to Inserm studies, give each inhabitant three and a half months more life expectancy. So this is a major issue. “
“I am a fan of sports history so I tend to learn the charts”
Let’s take off your mayor’s hat. You have repeated that you are a big fan of cycling. How do you relate to cycling and the Tour de France?
PRESS: “The Tour, I watched it on TV when I was little. Afterwards, as I am Pyrenean, I would redo the ends of stages on small passes around my village, Arette, at the foot of the Col de la Pierre Saint Martin. So it’s a fairly intimate relationship. The first round I remember was Laurent Fignon’s victory (1983). I’m a fan of sports history so I tend to learn the palmares (laughs) Then when I come back home, in Arette, I climb the Col de la Pierre Saint-Martin, out of category, where Froome had won (in 2015). In my youth, I crossed the Poland by bike and a bit of Italy, a Florence-Naples. It remains a reduced sporting practice given my schedule but I ride a stationary bike every morning watching series and I only get around bike.”
The last time the Tour de France came to Grenoble was in 2014, the year of your first election. Why did you wait so long to welcome him again?
Eric Piolle : “This is the decision of the Tour. He has spent roughly once every five to six years in Grenoble, for about forty years. We were a candidate in 2019 because it was the hundred years of the jersey yellow and that the first yellow jersey had been given to Eugène Christophe in Grenoble (1919) .The Tour is also a story that spans the ages, so it made sense for it to come back a hundred years later, with a ceremony. Finally, he comes back this year, that’s how it is. “
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