Morzine welcomes Tour de France 2016

Not only are we expecting thousands of people to descend on the town on the 23rd of July for the penultimate leg of the professional race but on the 10th July 15,000 amateur cyclists are also expected in town for the public stage of the tour, L'Etape du Tour. Friends and family of those riding mean the number of extra people in Morzine could rise to 40,000.

The Etape means that fans of the Tour de France are able to ride in the footsteps of their cycling heroes 13 days before the pros do. 140 km of roads around Morzine will be shut for the event; which sees riders travel from Megeve to Morzine over 4 mountains.

Road closures & event plans

A meeting has been held to work out exactly how we’ll get the celebrations just right, including plans for increased parking, information on road closures and, or course, a party which involves a lot of red spots!

People will only be able to access Morzine via Thonon on the 10th July. The Giffre valley (Marignier Mieussy and Taninges in Samoëns) will be closed. For people who live and work in Morzine each household will be able to collect a sticker allowing them access to various parts of the town and 5000 additional car parking spaces will be created for the day.

For the arrival of the Tour de France, similar road closures will be in place meaning fans will have to access Morzine from Thonon. From the Friday evening the main square in Morzine will also be closed for the race and parking will be reduced.

To make sure both events run smoothly, 150 volunteers have been recruited for the Etape and 70 for the Tour de France. They will help welcome people, show them where to park, manage shuttles and the movement of visitors.

A website is being launched especially for the occasion where traffic news and any other developments will be announced. You can also keep up to date by following the Mairie’s news feed on the town hall’s website (in French).

Morzine goes spotty

Now onto the exciting part! Everyone living or working in Morzine is being asked to decorate their homes, businesses, streets and schools in red spots. This represents both the climbing jersey in the Tour de France but is also the colour of Morzine’s local ESF ski instructor uniforms and the mountain emblem. The aim is to make Morzine really stand out on the television for both of the events. The Mairie is asking that we put up the decorations in June and keep them up until September as part of Morzine’s summer celebrations. You can also buy a red spot from the town hall, which will be hung in the street in Morzine. It costs 2 euros and the money raised will go to support a cardiac surgery charity, which looks after children living with heart disease.

So the countdown is well and truly on! It’s just over two months until the Etape itself and we don’t have to wait much longer for the celebrations to begin! It really is a summer of cycling ahead – we haven’t even mentioned the amazing mountain bike events heading our way! Watch this space!