Tour de France 2025: Lille traders galvanized by the influx of tourists

The very first stage of the 2025 Tour de France kicks off in Lille this Saturday, July 5. This is the fifth time since its creation in 1903 that the Tour de France has returned to the North for a Grand Départ, following the 1960 editions in Lille, 1969 in Roubaix, 1994 in Lille, and 2001 in Dunkirk.

To host this event, the Lille Metropolitan Area, the Nord department and the Hauts-de-France region invested 4.8 million euros.

This galvanized the crowds who, a few days earlier, had gathered on the Grand' Place to attend the presentations of the 23 teams' riders. 42,000 people had made the trip.

While the residents of Northern France are excited about hosting the third largest sporting event in the world, so are tourism professionals, who are rubbing their hands at the prospect of seeing a large influx of visitors.

Laura has just arrived from Germany and stops at one of the many Tour de France stands set up on the Grand' Place. She is captivated by a yellow jersey for her one-year-old son: "I hope he'll be a huge Tour fan like his mother," she confides to RMC.

With her husband, Roland, they didn't want to miss the start of the race, located a four-hour drive from their home. "Two months ago, I asked my wife if she was interested in going to Lille for the weekend. She asked me why. I told her it was for the start of the Tour de France, and she immediately said OK. We'll see what we find out," Roland says.

Emily, for her part, is coming from Australia and setting foot in France for the first time. She is captivated by Lille: "We love it; it's so beautiful. The streets, the buildings, the people... and the food is excellent."

Nearly 500,000 people are expected this weekend for the start of the Tour de France. Restaurant owners, like Arnaud Meunier, have had to increase orders and strengthen their teams.

"We estimated that we would achieve a 50% increase compared to a typical weekend," he said.

After the Olympic Games and the Rugby and Football World Cups, Lille's commitment to sport seems to be paying off. According to François Navarro, director of the Hello Lille attraction agency, hotels are once again full.

"Tonight, we're going to be close to 100%. We saw a lot of Scandinavians. A lot of Americans too. It's this type of event that allows us to reach nationalities we don't traditionally reach," he analyzes.

For this edition, the start and finish will be from the Esplanade de la Citadelle. The runners will not only pass through Hauts-de-France. They will first complete a loop from Lille to Lille, then Lauwin-Planques to Boulogne-sur-Mer, then Valenciennes to Dunkirk, before leaving Amiens this Tuesday for Normandy.