Diagonale De France Rules

Making sense of “la règles” was an exercise in translation (easy enough) and meaning, so I wrote the rules down in English after verifying some points with Jim Curton and Jean-Phillipe Battu. Here is what a candidate must consider and work within to allow successful diagonale planning and completion;

Article 1: A diagonale is an independent trek which an be undertaken in either direction. A candidates choice of route is totally up to them, but if you choose to meander across France, increasing the amount of Km you will have to ride to your end destination, you will still have to complete your chosen diagonale within the allowed time.

Article 2: You must be a member of a cycling club to apply for a diagonale. The official website says that you must be a member of the FFCT (Fédération française de cyclotourisme) however, membership of UK clubs such as British Cycling or Audax UK will be sufficient.

Article 3: The diagionales are seen to represent and emphasise a touring/hiker spirit, therefore a diagonale must be made autonomously – there must be no accompanying or following vehicles there to support you. Any breach of this article results in strict non-approval of the diagonale.

Article 4: A diagonale can be attempted as a solo cyclist or in groups of up to 6 riders. Groups undertaking a diagonale must be together at the end of the diagonale (and are advised to be together for controls as well). If a group member has to leave for a serious reason, the remaining group can continue ensuring that the drop out of the rider is reported to the Federal Officer by post card en route.

Article 5a: Start and finish controls must be made at the central Police stations (Police Nationale – not the Gendarmerie) in the concerned locations. Logbook time (start and finish) is the one which the candidate is actually presented to the central Police station, meaning that your completed diagonale time is taken as the elapsed time from the start to the finish logbook times.

Stick to your planned departure time. If you must make a change to your planned departure time, you must record this in your logbook and inform the Federal Officer (by post card). The completed time for your diagonale will be counted from the actual time of departure.

Article 5b: Intermediate controls must be proposed by the candidate and are subject to prior approval of the Federal Officer. Preferably the evidencing of the candidate passing through their control points is in the form of an ink stamp from a shop or a pharmacy in the control location. In lieu of this (perhaps you are riding at night and all shops in the control are closed?) a photograph of the candidates bike displaying the diagonale frameplate and the entrance sign to the control town can be taken and attached to your logbook. For a group, one photograph can be taken so long as all candidates frameplates can be seen.

Whatever the evidencing method, the distance between two intermediate control points shall not exceed 120Km. The date and time of passage through the control must be recorded in the logbook.

Article 5c: Post cards bearing the name and signature of the candidate must be posted to the Federal Officer within 50km of the start and finish locations. The postcards are intended to indicate to the Federal Officer that the candidate has (I) taken the start of the diagonale, and (II) is going to complete the diagonale. The postal locations (within 50km of start and finish) can be the first or last intermediate controls specified in Article 5b.

Article 6: In case of postponement of the candidates departure date, the candidates entry submission will be kept, and the candidate able to complete their diagonale until the end of the following year. Beyond this time, a new entry submission is required.

Article 7: The frameplate provided by the Federal Officer after approval of the candidates entry submission must be fixed to the candidates bike frame for the duration of the diagonale.

Article 8: Upon completion of the diagonale, the candidate’s logbook should be sent to the Federal Officer within thirty days, with an obligatory account of the completed diagonale. The candidates logbook will be returned by the end of the year in which the diagonale is completed.

Article 9: A diagonale cannot be completed at the same time as another Brevet officiated by the FFCT.

Article 10: Participants in a diagonale must comply with the highway code and the general provisions of the FFCT.

Article 11: The Federal Officer reserves the right to settle disputes regarding the diagonales.