Tens of thousands of spectators gathered along the Vaudois roads on Saturday to watch the arrival of the Tour de France in Lausanne. No major incidents were reported.
According to estimates by the cantonal police, more than 100,000 people watched the runners pass through Vaud territory, including “at least 65,000 in Lausanne”, said Jean-Christophe Sauterel, director of communication for the Vaud police. , interviewed by Keystone-ATS.
Despite the crowd, “no particular concern” marred the stage, he said. Among the rare interventions, he cited seven cases taken in charge by the health teams for cases relating to “bobology”.
Traffic: less worse than expected
With the arrival of the Tour, the canton of Vaud, like the City of Lausanne, was literally cut in half on Saturday due to the closure of several roads. Some were there from dawn, especially in Lausanne, and remained so until the beginning of the evening.
The reception of the Tour de France requires a complete closure of the roads taken by the peloton for at least 4h30: 2h before the passage of the publicity caravan and 30 minutes following the passage of the last competitors.
These closures have caused an overload of traffic, especially on the motorway between Aubonne and Ecublens, traffic in the city of Lausanne being almost impossible. Despite everything, the situation on the traffic front turned out to be “significantly better than expected”, reported Jean-Christophe Sauterel.
According to him, the messages from the police and the organizers “received well” with the population. She was able to “anticipate and adapt” her travels, in particular by using public transport.
Celebrating localities
Leaving at the end of the morning from Dole, in the French Jura, the peloton arrived in Switzerland via the Vallée de Joux. After crossing the Mollendruz, the riders descended on Cossonay and Préverenges, before heading to Lausanne. They skirted the lake to Ouchy, from where they climbed the town from south to north to reach the finish line at Pontaise.
After 186 km, Belgian Wout van Aert won. This is the sixth time that the Olympic capital has hosted the Grande Boucle, the first since 2000.
Several localities crossed on Saturday by the peloton had concocted animations to mark the occasion. In Lausanne, the streets came alive from the end of the morning with a festive program, available at seven locations in the city, including music, street performances and “food trucks”.
Several activities related to cycling were also offered: bicycle repair workshops, tests of funny bicycles or course on a “pumptrack”. Giant screens had also been installed in different places to allow the public to follow the stage.
Rebelote Sunday
Sunday, the Tour will still spend a good part of the day on the territory of Vaud, but also Friborg and Valais. The runners will start from Aigle, criss-cross the Lavaux and Pays-d’Enhaut region before tackling the Cols des Mosses and Cols de la Croix. The Pas de Morgins will be the last difficulty of the day before arriving in Châtel, just on the other side of the Swiss border.
Like Saturday, an important security device will be put in place. Over the weekend as a whole, nearly 4,800 people were requisitioned, including 2,100 on call from the CP, 1,500 police officers, 200 professionals from the medical and health system, 400 firefighters, 300 soldiers and 300 employees of private security.
This article has been published automatically. Source: ats
