Hotelgate: Mathieu Van der Poel 'furious' that Tour de France organisers 'staying in a beautiful château'

There’s been quite a bit of commotion in recent days about the conditions at the hotels during the Tour de France. Especially on the rest day, it became clear that conditions for some teams were far from acceptable. The organizers, at any rate, reserved the best spots for themselves, which angered Mathieu van der Poel. Tour director Christian Prudhomme went on the defensive.

Uno-X Mobility seemed to have drawn the short straw. They were staying in Le Lioran, the finish location for the stage following the rest day. But conditions were so bad that some riders chose to sleep outside. Magnus Cort gave his accommodations a rating of 1 out of 7 stars in his review. Alpecin-Premier Tech also had a rough time, and Adrie van der Poel described exactly how bad it was.

It wasn't the first time Uno-X Mobility had stayed at the hotel. “We stayed at the same hotel two years ago,” team manager Stig Kristiansen told Het Nieuwsblad. Even back then, it was well below par. “I called it one of the worst places you can stay. Hopefully, it will be taken off the list for the future.”

"We’re not expecting 5-star hotels, mind you," he clarifies. "We just want a decent, clean hotel. Especially on a rest day, when you have to stay there for two nights. This time, we slept on the mountain where we were supposed to arrive the next day. There was a party going on until three in the morning. With all that noise, it was impossible to sleep there. Mathieu van der Poel was furious when he found out that the people from the organization were staying in a beautiful château.”

However, the organization remains firm. According to Tour director Prudhomme, there is no other option for arranging the teams’ accommodations. It’s simply not that easy in the remote corners of the French countryside. “If we want the race to pass through beautiful parts of France and feature stunning stages, that means there aren’t always five-star hotels everywhere,” he told ICI Sport.

The Frenchman also insists on the principle of fairness. Teams like UAE Team Emirates-XRG have a much larger budget than TotalEnergies, which would mean they could arrange much better accommodations. That’s not the intention. “We are the only ones who can guarantee equality among the teams in the Tour. By the end of the Tour, all teams will have the same number of hotel stars.”