On 1st February, French Minister for Sport Laura Flessel presented Christian Tellier, municipal councillor for youth and sports, with the “Active and Sporting Town” label, as a reward for Compiègne’s sports policy and facilities. This certification has been jointly awarded to 119 French municipalities in 2018 by the French Ministry of Sport, Union Sport & Cycle and ANDES (National association of elected representatives in charge of sport).
Compiègne has obtained two laurels (out of a maximum of four) for its capacity to promote physical activity and sport as well as making it accessible to the majority of people.
With more than eleven thousand people licenced in clubs, modern infrastructures and an omnipresent forest, Compiègne is a town that is conducive to sporting activity in all its forms.
Paris-Roubaix: the main spring event
Within this context, the start of the Reine des Classiques “Queen of the Classics” is a major event and impatiently awaited just like the start of spring. The Paris-Roubaix exhibition, organised by the Compiègne urban area sports authorities, will this year take place in close contact with the riders, on the Place du Général de Gaulle square. Cycling enthusiasts will no doubt find the rare gem to complete their collections.
On Saturday afternoon, the spectators will be able to get up close to the riders at the presentation of the teams, while the village will bring together a large crowd of cycling enthusiasts.
On Saturday evening, thanks to a semi-nocturnal race in the town centre, a whiff of competition will already be blowing through the streets.
A dynamic technological centre
The University of Technology and Technological Centre both extend the influence of Compiègne onto the international stage and boost its economic appeal. The teaching and research centre has given rise to many initiatives: an innovation centre for prototype development was inaugurated in 2014 and soon the opening of a technology hall, called the Biogicenter, will further reinforce links between research and industry.
The Compiègne urban area is also backing the P.I.V.E.R.T. project, an institute for excellence in plant chemistry and leader in the field, which is creating new opportunities for post-petroleum chemistry.
For more than one hundred years, Paris-Roubaix has been an illustration of effort, tenacity and courage. Because the Hell of the North can only lead to Heaven, today Roubaix offers much more than a finish for those willing to discover it.
Roubaix was the textile capital of the world at the start of the 20th century and has built the economic renewal that followed the industrial crisis of the 1970’s and 80’s, on the basis of innovative sectors or those that are part of the city’s rich history: fashion, e-commerce, bargains, tourism, photography or innovative textiles.
A city of art and history
With 43,000 jobs, more than 10,000 students and a brand new campus around the railway station, Roubaix has also focused its development on a particularly innovative cultural offering through popular events or structures such as La Piscine art and industry museum, La Condition Publique exhibition and performance centre, Le Colisée theatre, Le Conservatoire music and dance academy, La Compagnie de l'Oiseau-Mouche theatre troupe, the French National Choreography Centre, La Braderie de l'Art creative event, the Night of the Arts, the Maisons de Mode workshop-boutiques or the Roubaix Accordion Festival. Roubaix is a city of art and history and stands out thanks to its both rich and astonishing architectural heritage as well as its superb urban park.
The young, colourful and dynamic population of Roubaix gives much pride of place to the values of solidarity and comes together via hundreds of associations for moments of friendship and celebration in its neighbourhoods or for major events such as Paris-Roubaix.
A sporting city
The city endeavours to develop all sporting disciplines, especially cycling, as well as sport for all. Each sportsperson, in accordance with their age and proficiency, will be able to find the discipline that suits them thanks to a broad range of activities proposed by almost 90 sports clubs and due to the quality initiatives deployed by the municipality, in particular via the “Sport Pass” (thirty activities amounting to 2,400 hours of sport each year).
The wealth and quality of facilities also allows Roubaix to regularly play host to elite level competitions, from cycling to fencing and wrestling to futsal… With two cycling stadiums within its confines, namely the historical velodrome and the regional covered velodrome (“Le Stab”), Roubaix has further reinforced its roots in cycling.
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