The little queen served as a link between agricultural experts in the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region. This Saturday, in Gilly-lès-Cîteaux, at the foot of the Wine Coast, 350 employees from companies in the agro-industrial sector met for a professional seminar in the style of a leading bicycle race.
The first edition of the World Agricultural Cycling Competition (Wacc) was born under the leadership of the Alliance BFC, a union of three agricultural cooperatives Bourgogne du Sud, Dijon Céréales and Terre Comtoise.
This think tank and influential group brings together more than 12,000 farms and represents half of the market in the Franche-Comté region of Burgundy. Crédit Agricole Regional Bank and Sprinter Club Olympique (SCO) Dijon provided their assistance.
WACC 2024 women’s event, in the village of Gilly-lès-Cîteaux, in the Côte d’Or, on Saturday 8 June. © Radio France.
The runners, audience and volunteers were almost exclusively employees of the agro-industrial sector: producers, processors, but above all employees in the agrochemical and energy sectors. At the Delin cheese area, numerous sponsors were prominently displayed on runners’ jerseys and on tents.
The names of the chemical giants Bayer, Adama, TotalEnergies, BASF faced those of the BFC Alliance, the Côte d’Or department, sponsors of the event, but also Nectars de Bourgogne and Cave de Lugny.
The route for this edition of the WACC consisted of an eight kilometer loop around the village of Gilly-lès-Cîteaux. Runners are offered four levels of difficulty – a defined number of laps. Each participating company had to present a team of eight to twelve riders, including at least one woman.
The next edition of the WACC will take place in 2026. The chosen venue, which has not yet been determined, will be in Haut-Doubs.