Organisers of the Tour de France have banned spectators from part of Monday's third stage of the race after wildfires broke out across southern France and the broader Mediterranean region, forcing mass evacuations and stretching emergency services to their limits. The regional prefect of Pyrénées-Orientales — a department in southwestern France bordering Spain and the Pyrenees mountains — announced that the stage's final 44 kilometres on French territory would proceed without any public audience. Fans were asked to stay away from the route and the finish line at Les Angles, near the ski resort of Font Romeu, while the race's traditional advertising caravan was also barred from entering France.

The decision came as hundreds of firefighters battled blazes that have already scorched more than 19,000 hectares across Portugal, Spain, France, and Greece — an area more than twice the size of Manhattan. Near the city of Perpignan, around 10,500 residents were evacuated after a fire consumed 1,650 hectares and came within 300 metres of homes.