From de Gaulle to Macron, the Presidents of the Republic still present on the Grande Loop

A handshake and the praises of the President of the Republic to the winners of the Tadej Pogacar stage, Thursday, July 17. A tradition introduced in 1960, the peloton had to pass the two churches (Haute-Marne) to Colombey, where the personal residence of General de Gaulle is located. To everyone’s surprise, he is present on the side of the road, in the middle of the crowd. Upon arrival, the runners even stop to greet him. An unprecedented break in the history of the big loop. Since then, apart from Georges Pompidou, his successors have never deviated from tradition.

In 1975, the Tour ended for the first time on the Champs-Élysées. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, who has just been elected a year earlier, does not miss the event and even puts back, in hand, the yellow jersey to French Bernard Thévenet. Each president has its staging. Ten years later, on July 10, 1985, a helicopter laid on a meadow next to Saint-Quentin-sur-Isère. François Mitterrand leaves the apparatus, settles alongside the spectators and immortalizes the moment: “When I was 13, 14 years old, I was going to attend stages arrivals in the north of France, in Flanders, where I often spent my vacation”.

July 1998, the Tour de France turned to the world scandal with the Festina affair and the revelations on the doping of the team. In power that year, Jacques Chirac who had obtained a stage at home on his Correzian lands: “It is a party for the Correzians who often see things happening far. And there, it is at the heart of their country.” Little known to be keen on sport, but Protocol obliges, he is the political to have seen the most of the Tour as mayor of Paris, Prime Minister and Head of State.

Both a bicycle fan and cyclist, Nicolas Sarkozy went to the big loop on board, this time, the car director of the race. A few years later, in 2012, an impression of deja vu, still in Corrèze, still in the car of Christian Prudhomme, but this time, François Hollande inside. Between the love of cycling and communication exercise, the heads of state have all their summer memories at the heart of one of the most followed sporting events in the world.