Tour de France, Inmate Style
I can’t wait for the results of this one…
Someone in the French penal system must be thinking, “What could possibly go wrong?”
Apparently it has been decided that a 1,400 mile (2,300 km) Inmate Tour de France on June 4 would be a excellent idea to foster values like teamwork and effort.
Starting in the northern city of Lille, they are expecting almost 200 prisoners to bicycle around the country with 17 stops in towns with prisons. Which incidentally doesn’t really matter since the cycling inmates will not bunk in the jails, but will be put up in hotel rooms.
Don’t worry about supervision, 124 guards and prison sports instructors will accompany them during their race.
Wait, it really isn’t a race, there will be no place ranking. Remember, the idea is to foster values like teamwork and effort. The 196 prisoners will only cycle in a pack and there will be no breakaway sprints allowed.
“It’s a kind of escape for us, a chance to break away from the daily reality of prison,” says a 48-year-old prisoner.
Really? An escape and chance to break away?
So let’s do the math here. 196 inmates released to do a 1,400 mile bicycle tour with 124 guards and sports instructors… If all the inmates work together and decide to “kind of escape” about 700 miles out, and if all of the guards decide to chase and catch one different prisoner, that still leaves 72 unmatched fleeing inmates. On bikes… In the middle of nowhere…
“This project aims to help these men reintegrate into society by fostering values like effort, teamwork and self-esteem,” says Sylvie Marion of the prison authorities.
“We want to show them that with some training, you can achieve your goals and start a new life,” she said.
Following real Tour de France tradition, the finish line will be in Paris. If they all make it that far.
Good Luck with that one France.
Past Bicycle Related Blog Posts:
Lance Armstrong Bicycle Jacked!
Thief steals 66-year-old bicycle from an 83-year-old woman
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Wow … whoever thought of this disaster surely deserves the world idiots award. I guess the French should get their pepper spray, stun guns and tasers ready for when these prisoners decide to escape.