Tour de France returns to France with increased security amid national civil unrest

TOPSHOT The pack of riders is temporarily immobilized by race regulators front due to protest action on the race route during the 10th stage of the 109th edition of the Tour de France cycling race 1481 km between Morzine and Megeve in the French Alps on July 12 2022 Photo by Marco BERTORELLO AFP Photo by MARCO BERTORELLOAFP via Getty Images
(Image credit: Getty Images)

After days of severe civil unrest in dozens of French cities, the Tour de France organisers have promised the race will remain ‘focussed’ and ‘attentive’  when the Tour returns to the home country on Monday afternoon.

193 kilometres long, stage 3 of the 2023 Tour starts in Amorebieta in the Basque Country and crosses the French border this afternoon at Hendaye at around 16:00 CET, finishing in Bayonne after 49 kilometres on home soil.

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.