‘Tour de Felons’ takes convicts down new road

updated 5:39 p.m. ET June 10, 2009

PARIS - From behind prison bars, the view never changes. From behind the handlebars of racing bikes, dozens of French inmates are seeing the vineyards of Provence, the sun-drenched Mediterranean coast and the majestic spires of the Alps in their own special Tour de France.

The convicts are cycling in the inaugural "Tour de France Penitentiaire" — an event whose goal is not just to physically challenge the prisoners, organizers say, but also to instill self-respect and pride that will help prepare their return to normal life.

There are differences, of course, from the real Tour de France: The prisoners' two-week, 1,370-mile event, which began June 4, is not as grueling as the 2,100-mile, three-week Tour. Any "breakaways" or "escapes" from the pack are strictly forbidden. And the inmates' guards are riding along with the convicts in the peloton, or pack, with a police escort among the support vehicles.

It's not a competition, prison officials say, but rather an exercise in commitment, solidarity and grit.

"It's a beautiful gift they're giving me," said Olivier, an inmate at a prison in Montmedy, near Luxembourg, who is scheduled for release in two months. He gave only his first name in accordance with French judicial regulations.

"It brings a close to my situation perfectly, spot-on," he added. "It's the icing on the cake."

Rapists and killers
Officials chose the nearly 200 participating inmates from across France, prisoners with terms as short as two years and as long as 25. They are men and women, young and old, petty crooks and hardened criminals — including rapists and killers.

Most of the inmates have been training since January. The event's 15 stages average about 90 miles, with some stretching to more than 135 miles.

Starts and finishes were selected for their proximity to penitentiaries, where the tour picks up or drops off inmates and prison personnel as it circles France. A core group of six prisoners and a dozen guards is riding the entire course, which finishes in Paris, like the real Tour — minus the champagne and fanfare.

Wardens, guards, judges and prisoners ride shoulder-to-shoulder, indistinguishable from one another in their matching white jerseys, helmets and cycling shorts.

The prison peloton has rolled through villages and hamlets to applause. Cheering crowds have massed each stage's finish line. It helps, perhaps, that the riders are unidentifiable as members of the penal system, except for the word "Penitentiaire" across the backs of their jerseys.

Helping 're-enter and reintegrate'
As prisons have become more crowded in recent years, officials have increasingly turned their attention to the ways of returning inmates to society.

"It's an absolute innovation to take the risk — but which is a calculated risk — of sending out so many prisoners at the same time and for so long, and to expose them in such a willful and even deliberate way to the eyes of French society," said Francois Grosvalet, director of athletic programs for French prisons.

Andrew Coyle, a professor of prison studies at King's College, London, who spent 25 years as an overseer in British penitentiaries, acknowledges that some people won't understand a program that allows inmates on even a supervised outing such as this.

"Invariably, when any prison administration does these things, people will say, 'Hang on, why is this happening? Aren't they in there to be punished?'" Coyle said. "But if we're serious about helping prisoners to re-enter and to reintegrate, then we need to find opportunities to give them positive experiences."

French victims' groups agree.

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