Behind the scenes of the Tour de France 2021 – our daily-ish diary
from 25/06/21
Post 1 – 25 June
Pascal Chanteur, Vice-President of CPA and President of the French UNCP will be the rider’s delegate at the Tour de France.
Chanteur rode in seven Tour de France races and has remained within cycling as President of the French Union Nationale des Cyclistes Professionnels, (UNCP) as well as Vice President of the French National Federation of Sports Federations and Unions in addition to his role as Vice-President of the CPA. He is also a member of the UCI’s technical and regulation working group focusing on safety in cycling.
His work means he is in constant contact with athletes and able to hear and respond to their concerns and share them with the UCI, organisers, commissaires – and all other parties.
In preparation for the Tour de France he has been in regular contact with French riders in the pro-peloton and at the Tour de France itself he will be in daily contact with Team representatives and able to respond to any concerns including those about safety, the parcours, the weather – or anything else.
We’d like to welcome you to experience the Tour alongside Pascal. We will be posting regular updates on CPA’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts and he is available for interviews via press@cpacycling.com.
Day 1 - from Pascal
Despite the drama on day 1, the riders are calm - but one big crash has raised serious questions.
The crash was not the fault of the organisers or the riders, but the unfortunate actions of a spectator.
CPA is speaking to team representatives and to the organiser, ASO, and with a solicitor to explore taking action against the spectator. We will keep you updated on this.
I also spoke to television broadcasters to ask them to increase their messages abour safety to spectators. Riders train year-round for these races that fans love to watch. A fall or a crash at speed cancost a rider their future in a race, their career - or worse.
I ask that all spectators take care to respect the riders.
Day 1 update - from CPA
ASO has announced they are taking legal action against the supporter. CPA is also taking action. Together, our messages will send a strong safety message.
Day 3
CPA rider delegate Pascal Chanteur spent much of Day 2 speaking to riders about their safety concerns and collectively agreeing how we can show the strength of these concerns.
This morning CPA released a statement on their behalf and at KM 0 on today’s stage, riders stopped briefly to highlight their safety concerns and draw attention to their feelings and requests.
At the end of today’s stage, Pascal thanked the riders, “I want to congratulate you on your solidarity with each other. It’s clear that you wish to talk and listen and work with cycling stakeholders to improve your profession.”
Day 5
This afternoon, on behalf of CPA, Pascal Chanteur filed an official complaint with the police against the spectator who caused the crash during the Stage 1 of the Tour.
Around 50 riders were impacted by the crash – all travelling around 40km/h. CPA and the riders hope this will encourage spectators to reflect and take to respect the riders.
No new big issues for the riders today (yet!) Tout va bien.
Day 7
It has been wonderful to see really positive examples of the strong relationship between riders and spectators. Yesterday Pascal took a photo of a spectator with an enourmous sign asking people to 'Respect the Riders' - our message was clear with him.
Today he took a poignant video. Straight after realizing that he had lost all chance of winning the Tour de France, Roglic had the thought to give his bidon to a child. The beautiful gesture of a champion! We have shared these images on our social media. Check them out on Twitter, Instsagram or Facebook.
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