- Created in 2017, the Dictée de Tour de France invites schoolchildren from the age of 8 to 12 to write a story about the race when it passes through their region. The 4th edition has broken the participation record with 26,000 children from primary and secondary schools located on the race-route of the 108th edition of the Tour de France.
- This action is part of a series of programmes the Tour de France conducts along with the Ministry of Education’s “Savoir Rouler à Vélo" campaign to develop cycling.
KICK OFF IN PERROS-GUIREC
100 days before the start of stage two to Mûr-de-Bretagne, Christian Prudhomme went to Perros-Guirec to symbolically kick off the dictation of the 2021 Tour. As the day was all about the kids, Maxoo, the Tour's mascot, was by his side at the Notre-Dame de la Clarté school. Focused on the sporting challenges that await her, Audrey Cordon-Ragot from Brittany nevertheless took her role as reader seriously and exposed students to the dictation via a video message. The children worked on an article from the Télégramme, which mentioned the last time the Tour visited Perros-Guirec in 1995. In total, the Côtes-d'Armor department assembled 2,200 schoolchildren for the project, and nearly 6,000 little Bretons worked on a text dedicated to the Grande Boucle this morning. Among them, 285 pupils from bilingual schools were asked to write a text in Breton.
THE TOUR DE FRANCE OF DICTATION
Almost all the stage towns of the 2021 Tour de France were involved in the dictation of the Tour. In their classrooms, for the most part, the children were paid an in-person or virtual visit from local sportsmen and women who spent some time in the role of a school teacher. This was the case, for example, with Thomas Boudat in Gironde, Marc Sarreau in Vierzon, Nans Peters and Mélina Robert-Michon in Isère and rugby player Guilhem Guirado in Céret. On the podium of the municipalities that assembled their youngest citizens, Chatou stood out with 890 pupils, followed by Nîmes (700) and Céret (633).
30,000 EDUCATIONAL BOOKLETS HANDED OUT
The Dictée du Tour is part of a series of programmes conducted with local authorities under the "Les P'tits Vélos” banner, which encourages learning about and access to sustainable modes of transport. An educational booklet has been designed for 8–12-year-olds to address the challenges of bicycle development, with assistance from world champion Julian Alaphilippe. For the dictation, 30,000 copies of "La vie à vélo” were distributed to children, who also received 26,000 Maxoo-branded pencil cases.
KNOW HOW TO RIDE A BIKE
After the dictation, the cycling continues. For many towns involved in the "Les P'tits Vélos" programme, this day is also part of the ministerial programme "Savoir Rouler à Vélo" (Know how to ride a bike), which includes workshops, training days in schools, etc.
A DAY ON THE TOUR
Now it is time for the corrections... and soon for the announcement of the results. Impeccable spelling and mastering of the cycling vocabulary will be necessary to decide between the faultless papers will be rewarded. For each stage, only the top eight students will be invited to spend a day behind the scenes of the Tour when it passes through their region. The gift is, of course, subject to the health measures that will apply this summer.
Participating local authorities and newspapers or press sites:
Albertville – Le Dauphiné Libéré
Andorre-la-Vieille – Rédaction de Bondia
Brest – Ouest-France
Bretagne – Dictation in breton
Carcassonne – L’Indépendant
Céret – L’Indépendant
Changé – Ouest-France
Châteauroux – La Nouvelle République
Chatou – Le Parisien
Cher – Le Berry Républicain
Cluses – Le Dauphiné Libéré
Côtes-d’Armor – Le Télégramme
Fougères – Ouest-France
Gironde – France Bleu Gironde et Sud Ouest
Ille-et-Vilaine – Ouest-France
Indre – La Nouvelle République
Isère – Le Dauphiné Libéré
Landerneau – Ouest-France
Laval – France Bleu Mayenne
Le Creusot – Le Journal de Saône-et-Loire
Le Grand-Bornand – Le Dauphiné Libéré
Libourne – Sud Ouest
Lorient – Le Télégramme
Luz-Ardiden – La Dépêche
Malaucène – France Bleu Vaucluse
Mayenne – France Bleu Mayenne et Ouest France
Morbihan – Le Télégramme
Mourenx – Sud Ouest
Mûr-de-Bretagne – Le Télégramme
Muret – La Dépêche
Nîmes – La Gazette de Nîmes
Oyonnax – Le Progrès
Pas-de-la-Case – Rédaction d’El Périodic
Pau - La République des Pyrénées
Perros-Guirec – Le Télégramme
Pontivy – Le Télégramme
Pyrénées-Atlantiques – La République des Pyrénées et Sud Ouest
Quillan – L’Indépendant
Redon – Ouest-France
Saint-Émilion – France Bleu Gironde
Saint-Gaudens – La Dépêche
Saint-Lary-Soulan – La Dépêche
Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux – Le Dauphiné Libéré
Saône-et-Loire – Le Journal de Saône-et-Loire
Sorgues – France Bleu Vaucluse
Tignes – France.tv Sport
Tours – France Bleu Touraine
Valence – Le Dauphiné Libéré
Vierzon – Le Berry Républicain
