Each city wishing to welcome the Tour de France must pay a small nest egg from the organization of the Tour de France. But the price is not the same in the case of a city-arrivated or city-departure.
Nine years after his lastcomer, the Tour de France finds Montpellier. The Hérault city, unlike 2016, will not be a city-arrived the day before and city-starting the next day, but simply city-start. It will be this Tuesday, July 22, the peloton will take the direction of Mont Ventoux. In addition, the inhabitants of the city, by searching a little, should see the runners during the day on Monday, a day of rest for the Tour.
But to accommodate the peloton of the Grande Boucle, how much the city must pay?
First, each year, the organization receives 300 applications (250 in France, 50 abroad). And the banks of the city-arrival town are not the same. “The entry ticket is 100,000 euros for a departure, and 140,000 euros for an arrival. So just under 250,000 euros for both”explains Christian Prudhomme, boss of the Tour.
1,850 reserved rooms
“These 250,000 euros is that we spend every night in accommodation. Every evening, we reserve 1,850 rooms. So in fact, we immediately reinject into the local economic fabric. It is my predecessor who set this, Jean-Marie Leblanc, and it’s a great idea”add prudhomme.
Not to mention those who revolve around the Tour, such as journalists or supporters.
“The strength of the community is not the money it gives to us, it is the possibility of having a step. If you do not have a mayor who wants the departure or the arrival, or a president of the department who gives the roads, there is no cycling race. We do not have our stadium, we are nowhere with us. So we weave links permanently”concludes Prudhomme.
