Still, they haven’t left. “Yet we’re still there, parked
among the fans, cheering every stage, even if it feels like we’re fading into
the background,” the statement continued. “If you do spot us, please come say
hi. Whether you’re a fan, journalist, team director, or even an ASO staffer,
there’s always a cup of coffee waiting at the camper.”
The situation escalated behind the scenes in early June,
when ASO sent an email to PCS CEO Stephan van der Zwan. According to BikeRadar,
the message made it clear: ASO considers itself the “exclusive owner of the
exploitation rights for the cycling events” it organises, including the Tour de
France, La Vuelta, and Paris–Roubaix.
The email accused PCS of “riding on the coat tails of
certain ASO events for which it holds no media accreditation by conspicuously
parking a campervan branded with the ‘ProCyclingStats.com’ trademark.”
Van der Zwan says a tense meeting followed. “I opened the
meeting and had five people against me instead of one, including their highest
lawyer. They only wanted to tell me ‘We don’t want you here anymore.’”
The impasse was resolved with a compromise: PCS would
remain, but the branding had to go. Van der Zwan has leaned into the absurdity
of the demand with a tongue-in-cheek workaround.