The incidence of swine fever that has been affecting the Collserola park for months puts the route of the second stage of the Tour de France at risk. In fact, sources from the Generalitat of Catalonia explained to this newspaper that they have asked the Tour de France organization for a route change so that the race does not pass through the area currently under restrictions. The Generalitat proposes this change “out of responsibility and rigor in managing the outbreak affecting Catalonia since November.” At the same time, the final report from the technicians of the Government’s Agriculture Department is awaited.
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Before this, the Tour and the City Council explained to La Vanguardia that they would comply with the decision made by the Generalitat. Therefore, it is understood that the situation is heading towards a modification of part of this stage scheduled for July 5.
The second day starts from Tarragona and in its final stretch will pass through the Castell de Montjuïc before arriving at the Estadi Olímpic.
The Tour de France has experienced all kinds of situations and last year, for example, the passage through the Col de Saisies was eliminated due to an outbreak of contagious nodular dermatitis in a cattle herd, in order to prevent the spread of the disease by fans passing through the area.
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The Generalitat recalls that the Tour has already modified routes in the past due to health crises
In April, there are 19 municipalities in the Barcelona area at risk. In this regard, a few kilometers of the second stage of the Tour must enter the area affected by restrictions. Specifically, it concerns the ascent and descent to Santa Creu d’Olorda. It does not seem to be a key moment of the stage, so removing that section would not greatly affect the interest of the race. From there, the race already heads towards the urban part of Sarrià.
The risk area is the ascent and descent to Santa Creu d’Olorda
One option would be not to change the route but to establish that the public could not be present during the conflictive section, but the Generalitat is not in favor of that. According to these sources, the Government “bets that the entire Tour route can have spectators.” The final decision will be made soon jointly between the Generalitat, the Tour de France, and the other involved organizations.
The second stage will take place on July 5, covering a total of 182 kilometers. Since yesterday, the route of the second stage had disappeared from the official Tour website, but the Barcelona City Council, consulted by this newspaper, attributed the issue to technical problems. In fact, the detailed route reappeared this very Thursday afternoon.
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