Adrien Lévesque will watch Tour de France from Moncton, but he'll see things we can't
Adrien Lévesque will be following the Tour de France from his home in Moncton when the race gets underway Saturday in Nice — a different vantage point than he had at last year's race, when he was the first Canadian to be part of the officiating team for the entire tour.
Lévesque found his passion for the sport as a teenager and eventually switched gears from competing to officiating when he was in university.
He started out officiating local races about 20 years ago and started to climb the ranks before landing at the top level working as a commissaire with UCI, the world governing body for cycling.
And last year he was part of the officiating team for one of cycling's biggest events, the Tour de France, a 21-stage race.
"I think I was confident that I was at that level," Lévesque said about when he got the news he was assigned to the Tour.
"You might only get to do it once in a lifetime, so for it to happen so early on in my career, relatively speaking, I think I was a little taken aback."
Lévesque said his role as an official is — simply put — to make sure the race runs smoothly.
Last year, Lévesque was in a vehicle following the race to direct traffic through the course.
A freak snowstorm in the Alps on stage 19 meant Lévesque and the rest of the jury, along with the race director, had to make a quick decision to end the race abruptly that day.
The snowstorm caused landslides farther along the route, blocking the road to the final climb of the day.
Lévesque said it all happened fast, but there were some hectic moments trying to bring the race to a rare stop.
"We're screaming down the side of a mountain, the backside of this mountain, as we're trying to stop the race," he recalled.
Lévesque said it was a "no-brainer" to make the call, but there was a lot left to determine after the race and all the riders were safely off the course.
"As to how we would collect the times to make it fair for all the riders was another question.
"In our mind, it was the only decision that could be made on that day."
Pandemic delayed 2020 race
This year's Tour de France was originally scheduled to start on June 27, but organizers pushed it back two months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lévesque won't be on the jury this year. He was assigned other races this season that were also pushed until later in the year. But he decided to forgo his assignments this season because of the pandemic.
He admits it's going to be different to follow the Tour from home, now that he's officiated one.
"When I look at a race, I don't look at it the same way as most spectators do, I like to see kind of the technical and behind the scenes of it — so I'll evaluate that as I can from the TV or from the news reports."
He said his colleagues judging the race this year have a bigger challenge ahead than what he did last year.
"There's a large protocol being in place for the pandemic," he said. "Hopefully everything comes off great and they have a great race."
