bikes, usually starting on Easter Saturday from a location of their choice. The minimum distance to cover is 200 km, the maximum 360 km. The Traces are approved on Sunday morning by the ACP official at the Easter meeting in Provence. The Traces Vélocio were created in 1996 by the French Federation of Cyclotourism (FFCT), to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Easter Meeting in Provence. Traces (plural form) means tracks as well as footprints. Representing all routes chosen by the different teams, the Traces may also suggest that today’s riders follow in Vélocio’s footprints. In 1999, the organization of the Traces Vélocio was transferred to the ACP. At the beginning, an overnight stop had to be observed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. The initial purpose of the Trace is to ride a tourist route in daytime hours. In January 2018, the overnight stop became optional. Traces Nationales The Traces Nationales are organized according to the regulations of the Traces Vélocio, but with a meeting place located elsewhere than in Provence, either in France or in other countries. Usually they are organized together with the Flèche. In France, the event was born in 2009 at the Easter meeting in Quercy. It was first called Traces Pascales. In other countries, the first Traces Nationales were born in 2010 (Canada). In 2021, there are 8 organizing countries. Flèches de France The Flèches de France are permanent rides, not team events like the Flèche Vélocio. There are 20 routes, each one connecting Paris with some city on border of France. They can be ridden in both ways. The route distances range from 189 to 993 km. Participants can ride a Flèche de France either as a Tourist (minimum of 80 km per day) or as a Randonneur. The Randonneur option is divided in 2 levels, Silver and Gold. The minimum average to be achieved on the Flèche depends on the route distance and on the target level (e. g. from 100 to 250 km : 20 km/h for the Silver and 25 km/h for the Gold ; from 851 to 1000 km: 15 km/h for the Silver and 20 km/h for the Gold). Self-sufficiency is not mandatory. From the shortest (Paris-Dieppe) to the longest (Paris-Perpignan), all routes offer special scenery and challenge. A trophy is offered to the riders who have completed the 20 Flèches (i. e. 11,000 km). The Flèches de