On January 31, 2024, the 54th edition of Étoile de Bessèges was expected to begin in France. However, due to a large protest by farmers, the opening stage of the race was cancelled, as reported by the Dutch website WielerFlits.
The race was supposed to start in Bellegarde. The arrival of the opening stage was also planned for the same city, around 20 kilometers from Nîmes, totaling just over 160 km in length and passing through relatively flat roads, although the final was quite challenging, with the finish located in a small , but difficult climb of just over 800 meters and 7% gradient.
Protest closes roads
The organization was forced to cancel the stage as farmers in the French department of Gard plan to organize large-scale strikes this Wednesday. The organization of the race reveals that it does not have enough police capacity to deal with this and conduct the race safely.
Waiting for further information
For now, no information has been released on how this cancellation will affect the remaining race schedule or whether the stage will be rescheduled at a later date.
The Étoile de Bessèges is a cycling race made up of 5 stages, which takes place annually in the French region of Gard and this year several World Tour teams had already confirmed their presence, such as EF Education Easypost, Groupama FDJ, Lidl-Trek, Decathlon AG2R La mondiale, Alpecin Deceuninck, among others.
