Since it entered Marseille’s Old Port on May 8 aboard the sailing ship Belem, which lit the flame in Greece, the torch has remained in the country’s southern region. The tour started in the Haute-Garonne department of the Occitan region early Friday.

The flame’s bearers left Revel to pass through the towns of Villemur-sur-Tarn, Muret, Rieux-Volvestre, Colomiers, and Bagnères-de-Luchon before entering the Ernest-Wallon Stadium in Toulouse.

Rugby is a sport honored for its roots in the city, with famous player Antoine Dupont, national team captain, in charge of lighting the cauldron in the stadium at dusk.

Gers will be the destination of the flame on Saturday. It will tour an estimated 12,000 kilometers on French soil until its arrival near the Seine River for the 33rd Paris-2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony on July 26, culminating on August 11.

More than 400 cities and communes in France will host the torch and its 10,000 bearers in an almost 70-day journey.

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