“I find it disappointing that there is so little interest in the well-being of the runners.” The boss of the Groupama-FDJ team, Marc Madiot, spoke out on Monday July 18 against criticism published on social networks about the watering of the roads before the passage of the Tour de France riders in periods of high heat. .
The runners “deserve a little more consideration and respect”he reacted, questioned by AFP. “I don’t even understand why we ask the question. If we were dealing with animals, we wouldn’t ask ourselves the question to put them in good conditions”he added, recalling that the watering of the roads mobilizes a limited quantity of water.
This technique has been used for several decades to avoid patches of melted tar that could be dangerous for racing. The “Mr Route” of the Assembly of the Departments of France, André Bancala, specified that the watering of the Tour route on Sunday by the opener truck, called “Gros Léon”, had required a total of 300 liters of water. This quantity corresponds to the equivalent of three bathtubs, according to a comparison by AFP, and well below the 10,000 liters of water planned by the organization.
“Since the start of the Tour, we have intervened in three stages for this reasonadded André Bancala. Gros Léon can hold 2,000 liters of water and, a week from the finish, the tanks are still half full.”
Marc Madiot also spoke about the future of the Tour and cycling races. In particular, he suggests that anti-heat measures be considered for the well-being of runners due to the increase in temperatures. The managing director of Groupama-FDJ mentioned several avenues, such as a modification of the race schedule or even the development of the routes with “watering points for runners”.
“It is the first time that I have encountered such perilous situations”said the boss of the French team, which ran its first Tour in 1982. “It is clear that we will not be able to chain days like yesterday [dimanche]. You can do it once but not do it every day. It deserves consideration”he concluded.