Etape du Tour de France date change creates 'logistical nightmare'

A last-minute Etape du Tour de France date change has left riders stressed, angry and potentially out of pocket.

The 15,000 participants were informed by email last night that the event – one of the biggest of its kind in the world – will be brought forward by a day to Saturday July 6 to allow people to vote in the French elections.

As it does every year, 'the Etape' follows the route of a Tour de France stage – this year the 138.6km from Nice to Col de la Couillole, which the pros will tackle on stage 20.

100 Climbs author Simon Warren told Cycling Weekly the date change was "a logistical nightmare".

"I can't believe it," he said. "We should be able to make it. But it means everything's going to be chasing around with bikes… we're gonna get to bed late, no food, and then be up the next day."

Warren, who is flying out with two others on the Friday, said the plan had originally been to "go out Friday, get checked in, have a really nice relaxing day Saturday, get signed on and then we're fresh for Sunday. And now that's all out of the water.

He added: "It's got under my skin… I've based my entire year around this one day. I had a terrible Etape last year but it was an amazing event. I'd never been out before so I was desperate to go again."

His group had costed a flight and hotel change at £400 that was "almost worth thinking about", Warren said. But he pointed out the French aren't the only ones who need to vote that week: "We've also got to vote on the Thursday. We've got to make sure we do that before we set off."

With the Etape du Tour keeping registration open until 9pm on the Friday, Warren and many others should be able to get away without rearranging travel. But with 15,000 coming from across the globe, not everyone is likely to be so fortunate.

"When you ride the Etape there's people from everywhere in the world," Warren pointed out. "They're coming from Australia, from Colombia, from everywhere."

Thursday's email, which Cycling Weekly has seen, informed riders of the change without an apology, and told riders: "Please keep in mind that the route and conditions of the event remain unchanged," suggesting that there will be no refunds or deferments offered.

Any attempt to clarify this goes unanswered, said Simon Rider, who is also entered in the event. 

"They're not responding to anything. If you email them you just get a 'response automatique'," he said. "I've tweeted them, they haven't responded. If you go on twitter you can see all the people going 'What?!'."

With most people likely to have booked Friday flights, they would now be left tight for time, Rider pointed out. But there are other logistical concerns. His group of five had originally planned to leave a vehicle near the finish so they could drive back to Nice after the event. Now the time simply isn't there, so they're looking at hotels near the finish – which comes with its own issues.

"Then we're looking at being at the top of the mountain, on a Sunday, on election day, trying to get a train back to nice, or worse, having to ride!" he said.

Rider predicts that with so many people having been left with logistical issues and expenses the event could ultimately be called off completely.

"I think it's a prelude to them cancelling it," he said. "They'll point to the social media storm and the various articles. And then I imagine they'll go to the French government and say, 'X number of people have threatened to cancel, can we have some compensation. So they come out whole, but all the people that have entered the event, we're going to be in tatters in terms of failing to get refunds on flights and everything else.

"It's very frustrating. It puts you off entering big sportives," he said.

This isn't the first time the Etape du Tour has faced issues – it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid.

The organisers were contacted by CW.