"We don't want to damage France": Tour de France boss Christian Prudhomme addresses the Ballon d'Alsace tree-felling controversy

A massive logging operation on the road to the Ballon d'Alsace has sparked outrage among environmental groups ahead of the 2026 Tour de France. With the peloton scheduled to tackle the climb during Stage 14 between Mulhouse and Le Markstein on July 18, critics have pointed fingers at the cycling event. However, Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has firmly denied that the race is responsible for the felling of over 800 trees, citing long-planned safety measures by local authorities.

In recent days, four environmental protection associations in the Alsace region have fiercely criticized the ongoing road-clearing project. While the stated goal of the operation is to secure the roadside, the groups are raising alarms about the ecological impact.

Their primary concerns revolve around the timing of the operation, which falls right in the middle of the animal breeding season, and the location, which is a highly sensitive Natura 2000 classified ecological zone.

"While securing roads can be a legitimate goal, the timing of the work and the methods used raise profound questions," the associations wrote in a joint press release, demanding full transparency regarding the administrative and regulatory framework of the project. They have also threatened legal action if the work is found to be non-compliant with environmental laws.

Speaking to the regional newspaper L'Alsace, Tour de France boss Christian Prudhomme addressed the controversy head-on, validating the public's emotional response while grounding the situation in administrative reality.

"Eight hundred trees being cut down shocks everyone, including me," Prudhomme admitted. "But it is a decision that was taken in 2023, and at that time, no one knew we would be coming in 2026. It is primarily a safety measure. I think mostly of the people who risked having a tree fall on their heads if we hadn't cut them down."

Prudhomme did concede that the arrival of the Tour often speeds up local infrastructure projects, but he firmly denied that his organization issues ultimatums or demands environmental destruction.

"Of course, the Tour de France is passing through there and it is an accelerator of works," he explained. "But we are never going to ask for anything, obviously... We never ask to build roads. If the road exists, we come. The Tour feeds on the beauties of France, we don't want to damage France."

Local authorities have corroborated Prudhomme's defense, emphasizing that the project was not born out of the Tour's route announcement. Stéphanie Rauscent, director of the Haut-Rhin departmental forestry agency, confirmed that the issue has been a known problem for a decade, pointing to the high number of "decaying" trunks threatening the roadway.

However, the local government did acknowledge the race's impact on the current timeline. The Haut-Rhin prefecture stated that a total of 1,071 trunks will ultimately be cut across a 4.5-kilometer stretch. They confirmed that while this was a "long-planned" safety project, the execution was indeed "accelerated in light of the predictable higher public attendance in this zone" expected when the Tour de France caravan rolls into town this July.