the organizers justify the use of 10,000 liters of water to sprinkle the roads

Aveyron, Tarn and Haute-Garonne… Three departments crossed by the Tour de France on Sunday, all subject to restrictions on the use of water due to drought. But this in no way concerns racing, which uses water for the safety of runners, but with a very specific use.

A controversial but “primordial” use

10,000 liters of water is the quantity stored by the organizers of the Tour de France with the sole purpose of watering the asphalt before the passage of the riders. A controversial, but “primordial” use for André Bancala, coordinator of the departments of France. “We have a truck with two tonnes of water which will spread this water on these sweaty portions and it will bring the temperature down by around ten degrees”, he explains.

“It will freeze this bitumen which is melting and leave the runners in satisfactory safety conditions”, he continues.

This spreading makes you cringe in the middle of a drought. Most of the departments crossed by the Grande Boucle are subject to restrictions and the inhabitants must limit their water consumption… But for André Bancala, there is no question of wasting. “Fortunately, we don’t water the whole road, we only water the portions subject to bleeding.”

Former runner, Richard Virenque is not shocked by this process. He would even have liked to take advantage of it in his time when he experienced badly damaged roads: “Especially in the Hautes-Alpes, there were small roads and the tar was melting!”
The organization is keen to minimize these figures, according to it, that a hundred liters of water would be dumped on the roads of the Tour de France every day.