“The popularity of the Tour de France is such that for three weeks all the attention of the public is turned towards the competing teams. The duel between the heroes who climb Alpe d’Huez, Galibier or Izoard has done a lot to forge the legend. It is not just a sporting competition but a spectacle. That of the landscapes and heritage of France and, for a few years, of Europe, that also of an expected carnival with the distribution of goodies along the roads. This event has a history of more than a century. Political crises and wars accompanied him. A real epic, said Roland Barthes. Also, politicians know that July will be largely preempted by such an appointment.
Faced with such a media colossus, it is difficult to exist. At least if one understands by that, the usual course of the life of parties and parliament. The ordinary session of the two chambers ends, in general, at this time. A time of year which, with the departure of holidaymakers in July, is hardly conducive to promoting an initiative or a position. There are a few exceptions such as the change of Prime Minister in 2020 between Édouard Philippe and Jean Castex, even if it is not very clear whether the Head of State had not ultimately chosen this window of distraction on purpose… It is always difficult to distinguish between intention and chance.
Be that as it may, the political news is rather slack in July. Antoine Blondin said: “General De Gaulle is the president of the French eleven months of the year, the 12th is Jacques Goddet”. This organizer of the Tour de France exercised a long mandate: from 1936 until 1987! The Tour is therefore a collective ritual dear to the hearts of the French. No more right, left, old, young, owner, tenant: these three weeks, there are only followers of the Tour. Passionate people who forget their work, worries, everyday life. The political agenda is inevitably shaken up.
“A collective ritual”
Is the calm useful? Summer is, in any case, conducive to the signing of embarrassing decrees. For this year, the texts of laws tabled for the extraordinary session of Parliament seem less contested: regulation of the digital space, green industry, programming of justice…
Let’s bet it: the Tour de France will once again catch the eye, especially among the middle and working classes. To ignore it? No head of state would take the risk. It would be to appear indifferent to the emotions of the country. For the sake of image, it is therefore necessary to be seen alongside the runners or at the finish on the Champs-Elysées. We remember François Hollande or Nicolas Sarkozy, commenting on the exploits of the champions, in the back of the organizers’ car. As with football or rugby, each President must sacrifice at these moments of jubilation. Admittedly, a few sarcasm sometimes fuse. That of panem et circenses, bread and games mocked by the poet Juvenal in his Satires. Or, more recently, that of machismo and pollution: this is what the mayor of Lyon criticized the Tour for, three years ago. Not sure, however, that the cause is heard.
The institution is revered. The tribute paid to him by the Heads of State bears witness to this. To participate in it is for the elect, big or small, to engage in what is called, in communication, the levitas: to show this lightness by which the emperors in the games of the circus showed their empathy towards the crowd. The idea remains. It’s always about appearing close to the people, those who elect you or support you. It’s like being photographed next to your pet, at the White House or the Elysée. Impossible to escape it.
A final word: the Tour de France marks the passing of the seasons. Like an anniversary date, it structures the nation’s calendar. In this dramaturgy, the effort and the exploit are put into words. Literature has made it a powerful source of inspiration. To turn away from it would seem the height of the unexpected if not the strangeness. This is why politics conforms so willingly to what has become a collective ritual. »
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