What if you had to pay to be on the side of the road at certain key places in the Tour de France? Jérôme Pineau is more for it.
While Tadej Pogacar and the UAE Team Emirates shine at the top of world cycling, it’s a grimace for some French teams. End clap for Arkéa-B&B Hotels, relegation and temporary end of adventure in the World Tour for Cofidis, not to mention the end of partnership announced with its major sponsor for the TotalEnergies team, the situation is not glorious. Some are thinking about how to bring in money. And why not on the Tour de France.
Consultant for RMC, Jérôme Pineau put forward a bold proposal this Tuesday on the podcast microphone “Great Plateau”. With first a very gloomy observation on the current situation. “Today, we are in a system of the ultra-rich, but there is no money. The bike is dying because of this. I am very worried about my sport. » Very angry about the management of the International Cycling Union (UCI), guilty in his eyes of
” Honey(concerning) a pile of sorrel in the pockets » while “teams are dying”the former cyclist therefore stated his idea.
And for this, he mentioned
the route of the Tour de France 2026 unveiled at the end of October.
“I’m going to shock people, but today we created a stage that will cover Alpe d’Huez twice. Let’s privatize the last five kilometers of Alpe d’Huez. Let’s charge entry. Let’s make VIPs. Let’s create something to make money. » Very worried about the lack of redistribution, Jérôme Pineau also denounced the omnipotence and the concentration of powers between a few rich teams.
Paid sections of the Tour de France route?
“In the history of cycling, it’s popular, it’s a free sport. But a free sport where there are no more runners on the road because there are only teams, Bahrain and UAE, is less fun all the same. » Facing him, the boss of Groupama-FDJ, Marc Madiot, was much less keen on this idea of payment. “I am for free. We are the last great free sport. » The consultant, however, admitted that there was “lots of work to do” to succeed in “find sources of income and a better balance between families”.
Marc Madiot, however, said he was aware that a big problem existed and that the inequalities which were growing more and more between the teams, particularly in finance, were problematic.
“There are too many differences in financing and financial management methods between different countries. » In any case, French taxation seems to be a thorn in the side of the French teams. And solutions remain to be found.
