In a rare, almost unprecedented first at the Tour de France, the bar at the summit of the race’s first mountain finish counted empty seats. Beers in hand, around 20 punters dashed to the edge of the terrace to watch Tadej Pogačar win the stage. Perhaps only a few hundred more had made the hike up to the ski resort, on a day the fans were told to stay at home.
The announcement came less than 24 hours before the stage start. On Sunday evening, Tour organisers ASO urged people not to go to the finish of stage three, due to wildfires tearing through the Pyrénées-Orientales region. The town of Les Angles had prepared to welcome 25,000 people. On its first time hosting the Tour, maybe only a quarter of that number turned up.
“My mum messaged me in the evening yesterday: ‘Ah, we cannot come to see the stage today because of the rules’,” Pogačar said post-race. “Being here on the podium was a little bit sad, just seeing photographers and a few people, not the usual big crowd around the finish area. But if that is what is good for safety, I understand it’s better.”
The bar by the finish line was ready for larger crowds.
(Image credit: Tom Davidson)
To discourage people from coming to the roadside, Tour organiser ASO stopped its publicity caravan – a carnival of sponsor-led floats handing out freebies – 44km from the finish line. Fans still lined the course in drips and drabs, but far from masses the biggest bike race in the world is used to.
At the crêperie in Les Angles, the chefs had prepared extra batter for the Tour’s arrival. “We were expecting to be full all day, but the fire killed our dreams,” said waiter Éloi, who served a handful of polka-dot-clad punters on the terrace.
“It’s a shame for the businesses who have been waiting for this day for more than a year. I know some that bought many kilos of meat, and not all of it will be sold.”
This was supposed to be Les Angles’s big day. Yellow jersey bunting hung from street lamps all along the town’s parade. Restaurants owners wheeled mobile bars out onto the pavement, but none of them had queues longer than a couple of people. With two hours to go until the peloton came through, the 300 or so sheep in the field by the cable car outnumbered the fans in the street.
Antoine, owner of the restaurant Chez Antoine, was non-plussed by the scarce footfall. He’s used to Les Angles, a town of barely 600 people, having a sleepy feel. For him, it was just another Monday.
“Yes, we were penalised because the prefect decided to intervene and stop people from coming,” Antoine said, “but it doesn’t bother me.”
“All the police and firefighters are dealing with the fires. Can you imagine if a tourist went up the mountain and had a medical emergency? What would they do? I completely understand [the measures].”
(Image credit: Tom Davidson)
By the time the peloton arrived at around 5pm, the town had fleshed out a little. Fans rang cowbells, applauded the riders and shouted their names as normal. TV viewers at home might have seen a route lined with fans, but the reality is the crowds were only one person deep. The circus had come to town, and only a few had managed to get in.
“Of course, I’m sad,” Les Angles’s mayor, Michel Poudade, told Le Parisien. After all, Tour finish towns in France pay upwards of €100,000 for the honour of welcoming the race.
“The decision from the authorities has left us with a strange feeling: why did we go so far to prepare for this? There are businesses with full fridges who are going to lose a lot of money,” the mayor continued.
“I’m going to plead the case to the Tour organisers for another Tour finish in Les Angles in the future.”
Perhaps then the town will get the Tour party it planned for.
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