Tour de France conscious of race’s carbon footprint

Tour de France revealed its route last week, and one small but important thing we get to notice this time is the average distance between stages has shortened compared to previous editions.

The average shortest driving distance between each stage finish and the next day’s start is 80 kilometres which is significantly less than this season and the last few editions. “When we plan long transfers, it’s often because we have to either due to a Grand Départ or the distance from the mountains,” Tour de France route designer Thierry Gouvenou told Cyclingweekly.

He continues, “Transfers can be a nightmare to organise. When we have to put everyone on a plane or a train it’s especially stressful. As a result, we prefer not to have long transfers. We try to have a logical path from stage-to-stage. Since we’re starting in the south, it’s a bit like when the race started in Nice. It puts us closer to the mountains, so logically we head into the mountains a lot earlier and can stay there for longer.”

It has long been a struggle for the tour to reduce its carbon footprint, and this small change can make a huge difference. In response to a question about the Tour's sustainability ambitions, Gouvenou said he has been mindful of the race's carbon footprint, “It’s not something that’s going to disappear, but when we can avoid them, we avoid them,” concluded Gouvenou.