French national champions moved to Futuroscope

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The French Cycling Federation have announced a change in location to decide the national road and time trial champions which will take place at Futuroscope in 2014. The titles will be decided over three days of racing on Thursday 26 June and the weekend of the 28-29 June with riders to fight it out for the right to wear the famous tricolour.

Present at the announcement were David Lappartient, president of the French Cycling Federation and the CEO of Futuroscope Dominique Hummel along with local dignitaries and representative from the department’s sporting organisations.

The road route will begin in Poitiers and finishes in Futuroscope although the length and details of the route for the road races are yet to be finalised as is the entertainment schedule for the championships.

The current French men's national champion is FDJ's Arthur Vichot who soloed to victory over Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team) and Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Leopard).

The theme park, located in the Vienne department, first opened in 1987 and was last visited by the Tour de France in 2000. The Tour has visited the audio-visual and cinematic attraction on several occasions and the move of the national titles to Futuroscope renews the parks affiliation with major sporting events.

Seven titles will be awarded in total with time trials kicking off the event on Thursday morning. The elite women will tackle a 23.9 km race from St Georges les Baillargeaux to Futuroscope. The elite men take on the same course which will be lengthened to 49.2km for them.

The Saturday morning schedule hosts the amateur and espoirs in the morning while the elite women will race in the afternoon with the hope of showcasing the discipline to spectators. The men’s race is the only event to be held on Sunday. All road races will begin in Poitiers and end at Futuroscope.