“There are those who are on the side of the road, more and more young people in particular, and those who visit France by helicopter in front of their TV,” underlines Jean Viard.

The cycling Tour de France starts again today. It has always been described as what it is, namely a great popular festival. But is it always? A social question deciphered by Jean Viard.

The cycling Tour de France starts again today. Is this event still as popular as ever? That’s the question we’re asking ourselves this weekend when we can’t talk about politics.

franceinfo: The Tour, is this big loop always the same breath of fresh air?

Jean Viard: I think there are two things. First, there is a new audience, it is very clear, both in front of the television and at the side of the road, 18-24 year olds, no doubt, people who watched it during Covid, moreover, it poses safety problems at the side of the road… There is a very strong renewal, especially among young people. And then there are still these old audiences. And then there are two Tours de France. There are those who are at the side of the road, who are really interested in cycling and those who visit France by helicopter, since the Tour de France, many more people watch it on television.

The vision through television is a magnificent map of France, we tour the castles, the beautiful hills. It’s a heavenly France, we’ll say soothing. And in the current context, I think it’s absolutely perfect. What’s more, it’s a national France, even if we take a short trip to Italy and end up in Nice. Nice, it was accidental, because of the Olympics, we couldn’t go to Paris.

It is also a way of promoting France and I believe that it is important not only in the current context, but also we do not have many major ceremonies where France is highlighted in this way, and there is no doesn’t have much competition, since it’s champions from all over the world who compete against each other. So at the front, the territory of France is very valued.

The fact that the grand final arrival and the podium take place in Nice, outside of Paris, is perhaps still an opportunity to bring an even larger audience to this celebration?

Yes, at the same time, there will not be the Paris public. It’s exceptional because with the Tour arriving on July 21, we fell right at the start of the Olympic Games. Obviously, the Nice public will be happy, they will come out, it’s very positive anyway. But the Champs-Elysées, we will probably come back to it because precisely, the symbol of the Tour de France is the symbol of the nation, of the Republic, that is to say the Champs-Elysées, Paris .

We have talked a lot, and it’s not over yet, about the Olympic and Paralympic Games. There is the Euro too. In the middle of all this, there is the Tour de France. Is it a meeting that people are waiting for, an important meeting to freshen up their minds a little?

The Tours de France are the start of the holidays. When the Tour starts, we know that the year is over, we talk about it on all the TVs, all the radios. So for me it is first and foremost a marker of time. And then, it is the great victory of popular courage, that is to say of people who come from mountain regions where they have climbed hills all their youth or of workers from the North, it values ​​the effort, a certain suffering to achieve results. And it has something both heroic in a certain way.

This fight of man with himself, those who finish in front, and the courage of those who are behind, of the stokers who are there only to help the bosses. And in the hardest stages, it is those who suffer the most, because they are weaker. And we must think about all that, The last link. And then in front of the heroism of the winner, and these are still beautiful values.