Race officials and police have put more than 20,000 police officers, gendarmes and firefighters in place to guard against terrorism for this year’s Tour de France.
“In addition to road safety and public order, the terrorist risk is obviously not ignored. It should even encourage, in the current context, the greatest caution,” said Pierre-Henry Brandet, spokesman for the French ministry of the interior.
“The intelligence services are mobilized to detect upstream any possible hint of danger,” he added. All officials mobilized by the Place de Beauvau “are perfectly aware of the threat along the route and that posed at the start and finish of each stage.”
“Vigilance will be heightened on the course to identify suspicious behavior,” the spokesman added, in the face of a “very elevated threat of terrorism.
“Checkpoints will be especially strengthened at the departures and arrivals of the stages,” Brandet said.
This year’s race will see 20,000 officials, 40 Republican Guard motorcyclists, 12,000 gendarmes and over 8,000 police officers in place to ensure public safety.
According to the interior ministry, the Tour de France attracts more than 2 million spectators, and therefore, it remains a “major concern of public authorities. … For sure we are bracing ourselves,” Brandet said.
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