With a million-dollar renovation and planned for Paris 2024: it’s the Condors bunker that is revolutionizing a small town in France

Away from the multicultural hustle and bustle of Paris and even the hustle and bustle of large Breton cities such as Rennes or Brest, the town of Perros-Guirec sits peacefully in the heart of the Côte de Granit Rose, facing the English Channel. A city of barely 7,000 inhabitants which, since last Saturday, has added around fifty Chileans to its streets.

This is the entourage of Los Cóndores, who chose it as their base camp for the Rugby World Cup. There they will sleep, train and spend around a month, preparing to face Japan, Samoa, England and Argentina. “It is one of the smallest host cities of the entire World Cup, which is also important because it generates intimacy something very personal”, comments Pablo Lemoine to El Deportivo.

Although Perros-Guirec may seem unknown and small, the Uruguayan coach and the Federation had been studying the place for a long time. “The process was generated by Felipe Romero (Team Manager). Once qualified, we had communication with World Rugby and they gave us three options for upcoming venues, with different backgrounds. One was a big city, another intermediate and another smaller one, that’s the one we chose, ”he underlines.

There, those selected will have all the comforts and facilities needed for high-level sport. Hosted in a five-star hotel, they will also have a training center located less than a kilometer away.

This is the Stade Yves Le Jannou, a place which has undergone a renovation of nearly two million euros and which has been recognized this year as a training center for Paris 2024. It has a tribune for 400 people, a room to carry out anti-doping activities. tests, gymnasium, kinesiology areas, nursing, as well as a main field with professional measures. This thanks to a series of works started in 2021 and concluded on March 31, 2023.

“YOThey invested a lot in all that was preparation. Gym, court, recovery pools, the truth is that everything has a spectacular quality . We followed Felipe Romero and Martín Domínguez (Head of High Performance). Both generated continuity in the search for evolution. We elevated certain needs, they filled everything, gathered together, to our measure. Anyway, we ended up setting up the gym “, confesses Lemoine from France.

The developments, according to information made public by the municipality of Perros-Guirec, focused on different areas of the enclosure. First, in a complete renovation of the gymnasium which now has a new roof, a heating system, a terrace and recreation rooms with climbing walls and basketball hoops. In addition, a strong emphasis has been placed on the layout of the space for people with reduced mobility.

In total, it is an investment of 1,948,012 million euros excluding taxes, provided by the local government, which since 2019 has been applying to become one of the base camps of the Rugby World Cup. These improvements also allowed the organization of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to recognize them as an official preparation center for the disciplines of table tennis and rugby sevens.

Other facilities available to the place were the drainage, the underground reservoir for the recovery of rainwater. At the same time, the football goals were replaced, the rugby posts were installed and the pitch lighting was repaired with the installation of LED spotlights.

The French Football Federation, for its part, is in the process of giving space the highest category, even if this sport has already had a significant presence in the corridors of Yves Le Jannou. In 2016, Albania trained there for the European Cup and in 2019 the French women’s team also used the facilities for the World Cup, which was held in the French country.

The inhabitants of Perros-Guirec are enthusiastic about the arrival of the Condors. The presence of an international team is attracting attention and various buildings in the city are already displaying banners linked to Chile in their windows. The colors red and blue are common these days, and even in recent months various authorities such as the sub-prefect of Lannion, Thomas Odinot, or the mayor of the city, Erven Léon appreciated the decision of the nationals to join the north of France.

The support from the community has been such that, last weekend, we could see the players receiving a traditional welcome, with dancing and typical food. They also have everything ready to broadcast the duel between Chile and the Pumas at the Palace of Congresses of the municipality, scheduled for September 30. Connection which will have at least three additional episodes.

And it is that it is already confirmed that the rugby team will open the doors to three training sessions so that the public can attend. These are the sessions of September 12, 19 and 26 , where jerseys will be handed over and various activities of the city’s rugby team, the Club de Lannion-Perros. During the first two days, there will also be children and young people from five local schools and the hospital in Trestel.

However, Lemoine is clear. “It’s a great place for us. We have a hotel where we are alone. We have this ability to isolate ourselves a little, to be very in contact with the sea, nature, which the players also appreciate a lot. We have developed a whole monitoring process. Our manager has been to the area up to three times . The truth is that we are very happy, people have received us with a very good atmosphere, it seems to me that it is the ideal place to be able to prepare for a World Cup, because in short we are not so involved in a city , very focused on what we have to do”, mentions.