Passing for the first time in the French Alps, the Vuelta delights the inhabitants of Voiron, a city of arrival of the 4th stage

To celebrate its 90th anniversary, the Vuelta set off from Italy and passes through France on Tuesday in order to honor the three great towers of cycling.

Members of the Civil Guardia alongside French police, red and yellow decorations in the colors of the Spanish flag, paella scents… The city of Voiron (Isère) will take the Spanish accent on Tuesday, August 26. And for good reason, the Iséroise city hosts the arrival of the 4th stage of the Vuelta. The French Alps will serve as an unexpected decor for the Tour of Spain, which arrives from Italy, where its big departure was given on Saturday.

“When I walk in town, people are very happy, the Vuelta is the first topic of conversation, but they all ask me: why Voiron?”. Stéphane Valentin, deputy mayor in charge of sports, was himself amazed at the choice of organizers to organize the arrival of a stage in the city of Isère. “When the mayor knew it, he made me guess which cycling event we were going to welcome. I proposed the Tour de France, at the limit the Giro, but not the Vuelta, we would never have thought”he tells Franceinfo: Sport. Because if the peloton of the Vuelta had left Nîmes in 2017 and that he sometimes produced forays into the French Pyrenees, border, he had never passed through the French Alps.

The reason is ultimately simple. “To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the event, we wanted to connect the story of the three big towers by passing through Italy and France. The first three stages will take place in the Piedmont and for the fourth, we were looking for a fall point in France, located after crossing the Alps, and not too far from an airport for the transfer of runners”explains Kiko Garcia, technical director of the race. The runners will resume an airplane towards Girona in the evening, to participate in an individual time trial the next day on Iberian soil, in Figueres. Voiron being located fifteen minutes from Grenoble-Saint Geoirs airport, the organizers thus contacted elected officials to ask them to welcome the arrival of the stage, while it is generally the cities that apply to accommodate the major cycling races.

“Indeed, we had not thought of applying to receive the Vuelta. But we had received a stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné in 2019, and we had shown our ability to receive these kinds of events. And this is no secret, we would like to attract the Tour de France in Voiron one day. So ASO certainly has our name on a list, and when Unipublic (Organizer of the Vuelta and ASO subsidiary) contacted her to find a city next to Grenoble, it came across us “, continues Stéphane Valentin.

But to welcome this arrival, the city still had to pay the sum of 70,000 euros, funded at 30% by the Isère department, 20% by the agglomeration community and 20% by the mixed mobility union of the Grenoble agglomeration. A lower cost to accommodate a large round in comparison with the 100,000 to 140,000 euros requested for the Tour de France.

Economic benefits are expected, since from 7,000 to 10,000 spectators are expected in Voiron, which benefits from the passage of the race during the school holidays. “It will allow you to keep the smile of the holidays before the start of the school yearunderlines Stéphane Valentin. We have planned a lot of entertainment around the bicycle, but also Spain with the presence of the city's Franco-Spanish association, which will prepare for paella, and then a group of flamenco that comes from Malaga. We also take the opportunity to sign a twinning with the city of Tarragone (Catalonia) “.

On the side of local cycling clubs too, entertainment is preparing, with enthusiasm. “If it could make a little boom to attract people to the club and rejuvenate it a little, it would be nice, because we still have a little room among young people”Note Arnaud Sevoz, president of the Voironnaise cycling union, which has 135 licensees. A connoisseur of local roads, he predicted an arrival at the sprint, after 206.7 kilometers traveled from Susa, Italy. “There are passes (from Montgenèvre and the Lautaret) At the start of the stage, so a breakaway will try to train. But then it is down or flat on the last 120 kilometers so it will be a hunt between the peloton and the breakaway “.

With a large departure given to Monaco in 2026, the Vuelta should probably redo a passage through French territory from next year.