Race news

Cholet Agglo Tour cancelled following ruling on Bastille Day fireworks tragedy

The Cholet Agglo Tour will not take place this year after a French court banned the company behind the race from organising events.

February 13 2026 - 7:05 PM

Cor Vos

The ban was imposed following a trial concerning a fatal fireworks display in Cholet on July 14, 2022. 24-year-old brother and sister Meggy and Gabriel Mandote were killed when they were struck by a firework during the Bastille Day event, which was organised by Cholet Événements.

Six people, including mayor of Cholet Gilles Bourdouleix and vice-president of Cholet Événements Jean-Michel Jeanneteau, were convicted at the trial in Angers. Cholet Événements was fined €3,750 and banned from organising “festive or cultural events.”

Speaking to Ouest France, Cholet Événements president Jean-François Murzeau said that the decision has been taken to cancel this year’s Cholet Agglo Tour as a result of the ruling. The race had been scheduled to take place on April 6.

“At first glance, upon reading the ruling, we thought the Cholet Agglo Tour, a sporting event, wasn’t affected, but there was some ambiguity,” Murzeau told Ouest France. “Nobody really told us what we were still allowed to do and not to do, because Cholet Événements hasn’t been dissolved.

“But in case of doubt, we stopped everything, including the cycling race. Our lawyer filed a request for an interpretation of the ruling to get more information, but the response time was too long, so we decided, in agreement with Cholet town hall, on a complete cancellation.”

Murzeau added that it was unclear if the race would return to the calendar in 2027.

Previously known as the Grand Prix Cholet-Pays de la Loire, the race was established in 1978. The event has been absent from the calendar on two previous occasions in its history – in 2017, following a dispute between the organisation and the town council, and in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lukáš Kubiš won last year’s edition of the race.

The Cholet Agglo Tour is the second FDJ United Series (formerly Coupe de France) race to be cancelled in 2026 following news that the Tour du Doubs would not take place due to financial difficulties.