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 on television on the free France Télévisions channels. 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 cycling world is indeed looking for new money. Teams struggle to survive several seasons and sponsors come one after the other. Even the winner’s team Tour de France 2023 Jonas Vingegaard is not spared since she has still not found a 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 from the sidelines. of the road. A real revolution.
David Lappartient, president of the UCI, explained, in June in an interview for Ouest France, that this was a possible solution for certain events: “When a race ends with a circuit, it is completely understandable (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 had an entry fee of 5 euros. The cycling enthusiast public understood that this had allowed us to balance the books, to bring such an event to life. We do it for track cycling, cyclo-cross , why don’t we do it on the road?”
We understand that buying a ticket to watch the Tour de France pass by on the side of the road near your home or at your vacation spot is not at the heart 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 specific portions of the routes could in fact lend themselves to the payment of an entry, in particular those which attract a large audience who sometimes travel hundreds of kilometers to see the Tour. “On the last meters of a climb, if you add giant screens and shows, 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 “No problem with that,” he said. Tour fans who follow several stages, sometimes in a motorhome, would then see their costs increase.
As a reminder, today, only a few spaces, particularly in the finish area, are privatized and intended for VIPs and companies who pay dearly, even very dearly, to obtain an exceptional view of the race. Making the “average” spectator pay would in itself be possible on certain major arrivals 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 welcome the appearance of a new source of financing, via the redistribution of these ticketing revenue. It is estimated that around 12 million people travel on the Tour roads during the three weeks of the competition. At 5 euros entry, the windfall would already be substantial…
Questioned on the question, David Moncoutié, former runner converted consultant, is rather against this idea: “I tell myself that this would be almost impossible to set up on a 190 km road race. In strategic places, can -be…However, this popular fervor is part of certain races too. We like that. We have to find the right balance and it’s not easy. Cycling is special, we cross villages, we take roads “.
Seeing the Tour de France in your city or on vacation should therefore remain free for the immediate future, but certain races could quickly opt for a paid ticket, such as criteriums or other cycling disciplines. Question of survival.