Leaving from Dole, in France, the 8th stage of the Tour de France ended in Lausanne with the victory of Belgian Wout van Aert (Jumbo). According to estimates by the authorities, some 65,000 people gathered along the route in the Olympic capital.
Throughout the final 5.1 km climb, fans lined up in several rows to cheer on the athletes. The popular, free event went off without a hitch and brought together spectators of all ages and nationalities, in particular young people from the Vélo-Club d’Ajoie, who left the Jura on Saturday morning to watch the finish.
>> Read also: Tour de France: Van Aert intractable on the heights of Pontaise
The runners set off at full speed (more than 30 km/h) through the streets of the Vaud capital. [Jean-Christophe Bott – KEYSTONE]
Lausanne municipal Émilie Moeschler presented the green jersey to Wout van Aert. “It’s an emotional moment,” she told Forum. She draws a positive assessment of the reception of the Tour, which is “an incredible chance”.
“Lausanne is celebrating”
“Lausanne is celebrating,” she rejoices, indicating that the estimates relate to an audience of 100,000 people, including 65,000 in the Vaud capital. “The population responded present,” she enthuses. “We were able to have activities on the sidelines of the Tour to encourage cycling and also sports”, she says (bike repair workshops, tests of funny bicycles or course on a “pumptrack”).
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”.
>> Listen to Émilie Moeschler’s interview in Forum:
Despite the crowd, “no particular concern” marred the stage, said Jean-Christophe Sauterel, director of communication for the Vaud police, interviewed by Keystone-ATS.
Disturbed traffic
Traffic was disrupted in the Lausanne area and across the canton all day. The roads are now passable once more.
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.
>> Also listen in Forum to the interview with Philippe Vonnard, sports historian:
Positive report for the police too
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.
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.
Second stage on 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 system will be put in place and roads will be closed. 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.
>> See also the return to the archives on Switzerland and the Tour de France:
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