They want to charge Tour de France spectators – 5 euros for each stage

Will spectators have to pay to watch cycling races from the side of the road?? The option is being seriously considered.

Cycling is one of the last great free sporting spectacles. The main races, including the legendary Tour de France, are broadcast live à television on the free channels of France Télévisions. It's obviously the same thing when you stand at the side of the road to see the yellow jersey and the Tour champions pass by. But that could change!

The world of cycling is indeed at risk. looking for fresh money. The teams are struggling to achieve success. survive several seasons and sponsors follow one another. Even the team of 2023 Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard is not spared since it is not ;#39;still haven't found it yet new partner for the year 2024. A solution recently mentioned by the International Cyclist Union (UCI) would be to charge spectators to watch the races at the side of the road. A real revolution.

David Lappartient, president of the UCI, explained, in June in an interview for Ouest France, that it was a possible solution on certain & Tests: "When a race ends with a circuit, that's all " understandable fact (to make the public pay). For French championships, Coupe de France events, I would not be shocked; to see paid entries. Ticketing can become an additional source of income. When I was president of the GP de Plumelec, we made the entry to the GP de Plumelec. 5 euros. The passionate audience The bike rider understood that it had allowed us to balance the accounts, to bring such an event to life. We do it for track cycling, cyclo-cross, why wouldn't we do it on the road ?"

We understand, buying a ticket to watch the Tour de France pass by the side of the road near your home or at your vacation spot is not the best option. oelig;ur of his project. The Frenchman seems to be targeting smaller races, not always profitable, and taking place on a circuit. Others, however, go much further, like the manager of the Uno-X team, Jens Haugland.

For him, certain very particular portions of the routes could in fact lend themselves to the payment of an entry, in particular those which attract a large audience which sometimes makes hundreds of kilometers to see the Tour go by. "On the last meters of a climb, if you add giant screens and spectacle, it's an attractive product. So it's fair to say that to be there, you have to pay five euros. I don't see a problem with ça", he judged. Tour fans who follow several stages, sometimes at different stages, board a motorhome, would then see their costs increase.

As a reminder, today, only a few spaces, particularly in the arrival sector, are privatized and intended for use by visitors. VIPs and companies who pay dearly, even very dearly, to obtain an exceptional view of the race. Make the viewer pay "lambda" would in itself be possible on certain major finishes of the Tour de France, such as on the Champs-Elysées or at the top of certain legendary passes. But the image of cycling, a popular sport since its beginnings in the 20th century, would certainly suffer.

If the Tour de France is a big profitable machine and would probably not need this contribution, the teams would certainly see a good œthere is the emergence of a new source of funding, via the redistribution of these ticketing revenues. It is estimated that around 12 million people travel on the roads of the Tour during the three weeks of the competition. At 5 euros per entry, the windfall would already be greater than that. consequent…

Interrogated on the question, David Moncouti&eac;, a former runner converted to a consultant, comes out rather against this idea:  "I say to myself that this would be almost impossible à set up on a 190 km road race. In strategic places, perhaps… However, this popular fervor is part of certain races too. We like that. We need to find the right balance and it's not easy. Cycling is special, we cross villages, we take roads.

Seeing the Tour de France pass in your city or on vacation should therefore remain free for the immediate future, but certain races could well quickly opt for a paid ticket, like crit& ;riums or other cycling disciplines. Question of survival.