The Tour de l’Avenir, which will celebrate its 60th edition in 2024, will set off from Sarrebourg on 18 August.
After Pays-de-la-Loire (2022) and Brittany (2023), it will be from the Grand-Est region (as in 2021 with Charleville-Mézières) that this genuine Tour de France for young international hopefuls under the age of twenty-three will take off.
Located in the south of the Moselle, 70km from Strasbourg and 80km from Nancy, the event will be hosted by the Communauté de communes Sarrebourg-Moselle Sud. It comprises 76 communes and a population of 46,700. As a gateway to Northern Europe, the area boasts a wealth of natural resources, making it a popular destination for cyclists on the Eurovélo 5 cycle route and for river tourists on the Marne-Rhine canal and the Sarre coal mines.
Sarrebourg had already hosted the event on several occasions, when it was known as the Tour de la Communauté Européenne. Frenchman Laurent Bezault won the time trial here in 1987. The following year, Laurent Fignon, the eventual winner, won in Sarrebourg. Similarly, 1989 saw Dutchman Jacques Hanegraaf win before the start of the final stage of an edition won by Frenchman Pascal Lino.
It was also in Sarrebourg that Bernard Hinault, patron of the Tour de l’Avenir, won the French champion’s jersey in 1978.
It is in the footsteps of these great champions that the young riders in the Tour de l’Avenir hope to set off from Sarrebourg.
The full route of the Tour de l’Avenir 2024, which will take place from 18 to 25 August, will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
