French steel union threaten to block Tour de France route over labour dispute
Stage Three is slated to take place in the Nord department of France on July 7, running between Valenciennes and Dunkirk.
Union officials are upset at a potential 302 redundancies at steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal, one of the largest employers in the Nord region. The organisation say they will organise disruption unless the French government holds negotiations over the nationalisation of the country's steel industry.
Advertisement
'Let's be clear, I respect the Tour de France and those who love it, but there is an economic and social emergency here,' CGT general secretary Jean-Paul Delescaut told Lille-based newspaper La Voix du Nord.
'Metal affects everyone. Including bicycles. If by July 7, we haven't been gathered around the table to talk about nationalizing the steel industry, there will be no yellow jersey in Dunkirk.'
The Tour de France is hugely lucrative to local departments — who bid around €100,000 to host stages of the race — with the added tourism driving increased revenue in the regional economy.
Delescaut added: 'Unless the Ministers of the Interior and Justice are capable of putting an officer every 20 meters, there are 178 kilometers of route between Valenciennes and Dunkirk.
'If we put 1,000 to 2,000 comrades, that's one comrade every 100 meters. They will have to bring back all the CRS officers (the French riot police) from across France so that the third stage can take place.'
The Tour de France has often faced disruption from activists. In 2018, four-time winner Chris Froome was one of several riders who required treatment after being affected by tear gas used to break up a farmer's protest. Three years earlier, the Dutch police threatened to disrupt a stage held in Utrecht in a pay dispute, only calling off their plans three days before.
Most recently, stage 10 of the 2022 Tour was halted for 15 minutes after activists from climate group Dernière Rénovation blocked the road.
Infamously, the fifth stage of 1984's edition of Paris-Nice race was blocked by workers from the local shipyard. Legendary French rider Bernard Hinault — still the most recent Frenchman to win the Tour — ploughed into the protestors at full speed, before rising to his feet and aiming a punch at one of them.
The ASO, the Tour de France's organisers, have been contacted for comment.
(Photo by Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
24 minutes ago
- USA Today
PGA Tour CEO in testy exchange with reporter: 'Are you asking a LIV question?'
ATLANTA – New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp can smell a LIV question a mile away. During his press conference on Wednesday ahead of the Tour Championship, he called out a reporter who was attempting to bait him. Reporter: Do you accept the premise that what golf fans want primarily is the best players in the world playing together more often? 'Yeah, I think, yeah, golf fans want to see the best competition possible in the sport that they love in a competitive model that makes sense,' Rolapp answered. Reporter: I think it's been surveyed already they want to see the best players together on a more regular basis. Should that not be a priority for you? 'Are you asking a LIV question?' Rolapp replied. Reporter: Essentially, yes. 'Well, ask a LIV question,' he said. Reporter: I asked. 'Look, I think I'm going to focus on what I can control. I would offer to you that the best collection of golfers in the world are on the PGA Tour. I think there's a bunch of metrics that demonstrate that, from rankings to viewership to whatever you want to pick. I'm going to lean into that and strengthen that,' Rolapp said. 'I will also say that to the extent we can do anything that's going to further strengthen the PGA Tour, we'll do that, and I'm interested in exploring whatever strengthens the PGA Tour.' And so ended that testy exchange. New PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said he hasn't spoken to PIF Earlier in the proceedings, Rolapp, who is just 18 days into the job since joining the Tour from the NFL, where he worked for 22 years, confirmed he hasn't spoken to anyone from the Public Investment Fund. 'I think my primary focus is going to be on strengthening the Tour, and blank sheet of paper means blank sheet of paper. Whatever does that, I'll pursue aggressively. That's how I view it.' He also wouldn't take the bait for a Tour-LIV related question that wondered if he would be inclined to create a Ryder Cup-style match pitting the Tour against LIV. 'Listen, I don't want to answer hypotheticals. What I will say is what I said before. I'm interested in any idea that strengthens the PGA Tour,' he said. 'So any idea that comes, that fits within our competitive model and our objectives for the benefit of our players and our fans, I'm interested in it.'
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
George Russell Shares Honest Truth About Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari Gamble
George Russell Shares Honest Truth About Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari Gamble originally appeared on Athlon Sports. If you're wondering whether Lewis Hamilton's bold jump to Ferrari was a misstep, George Russell has a different take: the split has been a needed reset—good for Hamilton and good for Mercedes. While the seven-time world champion grinds through a bruising first year in red, Russell says the shake-up has helped both sides refocus on what matters most: performance. Hamilton's Ferrari story has been a rollercoaster. The high point came early with a Sprint pole and victory in China, proof that, on the right weekend, the 40-year-old can still bend a field to his will. But his recent form has been unforgiving. At the Hungaroring, a track where he owns records for poles and wins, Hamilton qualified and finished 12th. He then went on to call himself 'useless' over the radio before doubling down in TV interviews. He even quipped that Ferrari should 'probably change driver,' an unusually blunt self-assessment from the sport's all-time win leader. Russell's view cuts through the noise. With Hamilton gone, Mercedes hit the reset button and elevated teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli alongside him for 2025, giving the young Italian huge shoes to fill, but a clear signal that the Brackley-based team is building for the next era. Russell has urged patience as both Hamilton and Mercedes navigate transition years with cars that have been tricky to unlock week-to-week. For Hamilton, the bigger picture still matters. The 2026 rules overhaul promises radically different cars and power units, lighter chassis, active aero, and a far more electrified hybrid package running on sustainable fuels. That kind of clean slate can reshuffle the competitive order and give veterans with elite race craft and teams that execute a fresh shot at the summit. So is Hamilton's Ferrari gamble failing? Not if you zoom evidence of peak days (China), hard lessons (Hungary), and a horizon (2026) where experience and adaptability will be priceless. Russell's message lands as both pragmatic and respectful: sometimes you need to break the mold to find a better one. For Hamilton. The bet is that the short-term pain buys a chance to fight for history under a new rulebook. Given his resume, writing off now would be the real story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump says Fed Governor Lisa Cook 'must resign' after William Pulte alleges mortgage fraud
President Donald Trump said on Truth Social Wednesday that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook 'must resign, now!!!' Trump's comment came after the director of the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency, William Pulte, a sharp critic of the Fed, alleged in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi that Cook 'falsified bank documents and property records to acquire more favorable loan terms, potentially committing mortgage fraud.' In the letter that Pulte called a 'criminal referral,' he said that his agency had obtained her mortgage documents and requested that the Justice Department review the matter. He further alleged that Cook falsified her 'residence statuses for an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based residence and an Atlanta, Georgia-based property.' Pulte's letter is the latest scrutiny over the mortgages of prominent Democratic figures, including Sen. Adam Schiff of California and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Speaking on CNBC, FHFA director Pulte said "it doesn't matter whether you're Fed Governor Cook or Joe Blow on the street, if you commit mortgage fraud, we are going to report it." The letter about Cook's mortgages ratchets up the administration's pressure on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Pulte has posted on social media dozens of times calling on Fed Chair Jerome Powell to resign or lower rates, and he attended Trump's recent tour of the Federal Reserve's headquarters renovation. Asked about his fierce criticism of the central bank in the CNBC interview, Pulte said that was a "separate matter" but then said that "Jay Powell has a chance to do the right thing by the law" with regard to Governor Cook. Powell does not have the authority to remove a governor. Pulte added, "we'll see" if Powell knew about Cook's mortgages. Cook has a permanent vote on the central bank's rate-setting committee and was appointed by President Joe Biden to a term running until 2038. Before joining the Fed, Cook was a professor of economics at Michigan State University. Cook, a graduate of Spelman College and Oxford University, is regarded in the economics field as a trailblazer. She is the first Black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve board in the U.S. central bank's more than 100-year history. The Federal Reserve declined to comment on Trump's post Wednesday. The Justice Department and FHFA did not immediately respond to requests for comments. This article was originally published on
