4 JOURS DE DUNKERQUE - GRAND PRIX DES HAUTS-DE-FRANCE

With the disappearance of the Tour de Picardie, the organisers thought they could call this stage race the Tour des Hauts-de-France, but A.S.O, the leading sports event organising company, refused, arguing that it would look too much like the Tour de France. The 4 Days of Dunkirk (six days of racing in reality!) nevertheless remains an unmissable event on the professional cycling calendar. Over 6 days, the riders will cover nearly 880 km, passing through the towns of the Nord and Pas-de-Calais regions: Dunkirk, Cassel, Maubeuge, Roubaix, Nœux-les-Mines and Arras. Some of the biggest names in cycling are on the list of winners: J. Anquetil, F. Maertens and, more recently, S. Chavanel and T. Voeckler. A popular event like all cycling races, it attracts amateurs who will appreciate the passages in the reliefs of the hinterland of Boulonnais and, in some years, on the cobblestones. They will especially appreciate the last loops of the last day that take place along the beach of Malo-les-Bains. While waiting for the runners, the families will go fishing for presents with the caravan! Always a spectacle in itself.