Tour de France Grand Depart under heightened security as Nice declared COVID-19 red zone

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme R and Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi give a press conference to present sanitary measures over the COVID19 novel coronavirus pandemic put in place for the start of the 107th edition of the Tour De France cycling race in the French Riviera city of Nice on August 19 2020 The 2020 edition of the Tour de France kicks off in Nice on August 29 and runs to September 20 postponed from June 27 to July 19 due to the coronavirus pandemic Photo by Valery HACHE AFP Photo by VALERY HACHEAFP via Getty Images
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme R and Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi give a press conference (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

A further increase in COVID-19 cases in and around Nice has pushed the host city for the Tour de France into a so-called red zone, forcing local authorities to further lock down the race and protect the riders as well as the public from the risk of contagion.

Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme previously said he was against holding the race behind closed doors but accepted that crowds would have to be strictly limited at the starts and finishes of stages and on the categorised climbs during stages 1 and 2 around Nice. Blackout panels will transform the start and finish into closed areas. On Thursday evening, only 1,000 people were allowed to attend the Tour de France team presentation.

Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.