A recent podcast reignited the old notion that the Tour and other major races should start charging fans for the privilege of witnessing the world\u2019s greatest races.<\/p>\n
Cycling is perpetually cash-strapped, and every other sport on earth charges admission.<\/p>\n
Why not create a new revenue stream for one of the world\u2019s biggest free shows and share it with riders and teams?<\/p>\n
On paper, it might make sense. In reality, the idea is sheer lunacy that betrays the very soul of what makes the Tour and racing on open roads so unique in international sport.<\/p>\n
Anyone who\u2019s ever posted up roadside in France or Flanders knows the thrill. Hours of anticipation, a few beers, some baguettes, maybe a barbecue, and a backpack full of trinkets from the caravan before the peloton barrels past in a blur of color, speed, and motion.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not glamorous, but it is the essence of the sport.<\/p>\n
Charging fans admission to Alpe d\u2019Huez or the Trou\u00e9e d\u2019Arenberg \u2014 aside from a few limited VIP zones \u2014 would be logistically impossible, politically suicidal, and callously greedy. Let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n
A sport built on proximity
\n![\"Fans](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Z9A_2887-720x491.jpg\"\/)
Watching the Tour de France \u2014 for free \u2014 is a summer rite of passage. (Photo: Gruber Images\/Velo)<\/p>\n
Part of the allure and legend of cycling is that it\u2019s free.<\/p>\n
Some key stakeholders hoping to modernize professional road racing may not like that, but the open-road model is what gives the sport its pulse.<\/p>\n
Cycling fans have never paid for front-row access to see their heroes. They wait hours outside a team bus or camp out on Alpine passes just to see the two-wheeled superheroes.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the world\u2019s last truly open major sport.<\/p>\n
Paid admission runs counter to everything road cycling stands for.<\/p>\n
Sure, VIP tents make sense. Every major organizer \u2014 ASO, Flanders Classics, RCS \u2014 runs hospitality zones at finish lines and cobbled sectors where corporate guests pay hundreds for champagne, buffets, and big-screen TVs.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s fine. Selling exclusivity is a legitimate business model.<\/p>\n
But charging the general public \u20ac10 to stand on a mountain? That\u2019s something else entirely. It would be a gut punch to the fans and sell out the spirit of the sport.<\/p>\n
Making the case
\n![\"Tour](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Z8A_6707-720x480.jpg\"\/)
Fans pack into the central plaza at Bruges for the sign-in of the Tour of Flanders. (Photo: Gruber Images\/Velo)<\/p>\n
Insiders have been moaning for years that cycling\u2019s business model is broken, and that\u2019s mostly true.<\/p>\n
All the revenue generated from a bike race \u2014 from TV rights and stage hosting fees to merchandising and public subsidies \u2014 all go directly into the coffers of the race organizers.<\/p>\n
Cycling is one of the last major sports where the teams and players do not receive a share of the revenue.<\/p>\n
Media reports in France estimate that ASO earned about $350 million in 2023, but almost none of that money is split with the teams.<\/p>\n
And unlike golf or tennis, where prize money from one event can be millions of dollars, cycling is notoriously impoverished when it comes to prize purses. The men\u2019s Tour awards about $2.5 million for three weeks of hard racing. The Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift is one-tenth that.<\/p>\n
One idea that keeps coming up is how to convert Europe\u2019s highest peaks and gnarliest cobbled roads \u2014 cycling\u2019s version of a stadium \u2014 into a revenue stream to be shared with teams.<\/p>\n
Find the best parts of a stage, fence off the final kilometers of Alpe d\u2019Huez, for example, and charge a modest fee of $5 or $10 to get in. Many fans wouldn\u2019t mind paying, and it\u2019s extra dosh to spread around.<\/p>\n
Ex-pro J\u00e9r\u00f4me Pineau brought it up in a French podcast on RMC Sport over the weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s privatize the last 5 kilometers of Alpe d\u2019Huez. Let\u2019s charge admission, let\u2019s have VIPs, let\u2019s create something to make money. Historically, cycling is a popular sport, a free sport,\u201d Pineau said. \u201cBut a free sport where there are no more riders on the road because there are only two teams [winning], Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, is less fun, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n
That argument goes to the heart of the argument that cycling\u2019s \u201cactors\u201d \u2014 the teams and riders \u2014 don\u2019t get a fair cut of the pie.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s up to teams to hustle up sponsors to pay salaries and cover the costs of fielding the team, but the race organizers keep the lion\u2019s share of the spoils. That imbalance is part of the reason why Ark\u00e9a B&B is shuttering and Intermarch\u00e9 and Lotto are being forced to merge.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpectators come to watch the race to see your riders, but your riders don\u2019t get paid anything. That\u2019s what\u2019s unfair,\u201d Pineau said. \u201cHospitality areas are set up at the Tour and other major races, but it\u2019s the organizer who takes the money, not the people who put on the show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fair point. But charging fans for admission is not the right fix.<\/p>\n
Would you pay for this?
\n![\"Montmartre](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2227290231-720x480.jpg\"\/)
The passage over Montmartre instantly became one of the Tour\u2019s most iconic moments in 2025. (Photo: Catherine Steenkeste\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
First, let\u2019s look at the money side. How much could the teams and riders expect to make?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s say you pick five of the most exciting stages across the Tour to include paid admission zones, drawing about 20,000 paying customers at $10 each per stage, across five stages, and that\u2019s about $1,000,000.<\/p>\n
Maybe double that by doing it across Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, and parts of the Giro and Vuelta, bringing that total to $2,000,000.<\/p>\n
First off, ASO would probably keep the money for themselves.<\/p>\n
And even if it was split among the 23 teams \u2014 after expenses of building and tearing down fencing plus having staffers trying to control entry \u2014 each squad would pocket maybe $90,000 in a best-case scenario.<\/p>\n
Is that going to change the business model in today\u2019s super team era, when budgets are $50 million or more? Probably not.<\/p>\n
UCI boss David Lappartient isn\u2019t convinced, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cA legal framework needs to be established; charging for public space in France is complicated. And besides, I think people will ultimately want the money to go to the riders,\u201d he told Ouest-France. \u201cIt\u2019s not impossible, but it would be a revolution. Just look at the pension reform \u2026 So if you want to charge for the Tour de France, you\u2019re in for a long haul.\u201d<\/p>\n
French roads belong to the people, and they pay a lot of taxes to make French roads among some of the best in the world. ASO pays hefty fees to the national police and local governments to close those roads each July.<\/p>\n
Start requiring tickets, and the backlash would be immediate and passionate.<\/p>\n
Charging admission could backfire spectacularly.<\/p>\n
In a country where farmers block the race route every summer over fuel prices, imagine thousands of angry French cycling fans being told they need a ticket to watch the Tour roll past.<\/p>\n
Fans might stay away, and the ones who do show up would either ignore the fences or tear them down. The gendarmes wouldn\u2019t stand a chance.<\/p>\n
ASO knows better
\n![\"Alpe](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Z9A_2059-720x440.jpg\"\/)
Fans lean in on the riders at Alpe d\u2019Huez in 2022. (Photo: Gruber Images\/Velo)<\/p>\n
ASO, which runs the Tour and half the sport\u2019s biggest races, understands its fans.<\/p>\n
The Tour de France is unique in that it\u2019s a national institution that\u2019s deeply woven into French culture and psyche, but one that is privately owned. Race officials are always very careful to keep the public on their side.<\/p>\n
ASO has dedicated staffers who are paid to schmooze local mayors, regional commissioners, and state politicians to keep the race close to the public centers of power (and assure that public money keeps flowing into the company\u2019s coffers).<\/p>\n
Every start town and finishing village shells out tens of thousands of euros each day to host a stage. No way are those politicians going to tell their voters that public money was spent on bringing the Tour de France to town, and now you have to pay $10 to see it.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s little upside for ASO in trying to charge the public. All those free eyeballs lining the stage every day are money signs for ASO.<\/p>\n
The Tour already nets an estimated \u20ac40 million in annual profit for the Amaury family, a figure that\u2019s growing steadily through global TV rights, sponsorship, and its own VIP packages.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no practical way to scale the massive logistical project of charging admission on open roads. The only real option would be to cordon off the best viewing areas \u2014 finish lines, starts, the bus paddock area, the podium \u2014 and that would only agitate and alienate fans.<\/p>\n
So why risk a political and logistical nightmare for a few extra thousand euros that would be split out with the teams?<\/p>\n
ASO did not immediately respond when Velo reached out for comment, but it knows better than to kill the golden goose.<\/p>\n
Free access is cycling\u2019s biggest draw
\n![\"Flanders\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Z8A_3729-720x608.jpg\"\/)
A rider disappears into the chaos at the Tour of Flanders. (Photo: Gruber Images\/Velo)<\/p>\n
Ask any pro what makes the Tour unique, and they\u2019ll tell you it\u2019s the crowds.<\/p>\n
The scale of everything at the Tour is bigger. The pressure, the prestige, and the media, but it\u2019s the massive crowds, sometimes 10 deep lining Alpe d\u2019Huez, that elevate the Tour de France into one of the most iconic sporting events on the globe.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s inaugural stage over Montmartre was a massive success, arguably one of the most spectacular stages in modern Tour history.<\/p>\n
Would that magical sense of je ne sais quoi be replicated with paid admission? Non.<\/p>\n
Yes, cycling needs more money. Not every team has a $50 million budget. In fact, Pineau\u2019s B&B Hotels team went down in flames because he couldn\u2019t find more sponsors.<\/p>\n
Is there money to be made by charging admission in a few select high-value viewing areas? Most certainly, but charging the public for access to the Tour is not the way to fix cycling\u2019s structural problems.<\/p>\n
Cycling\u2019s business model might seem antiquated compared to F1 or football, but that\u2019s also part of its charm.<\/p>\n
In no other sport in the world can a grandparent bring their grandchildren to sit on the side of the road and watch the world\u2019s best compete in the season\u2019s most important event for free.<\/p>\n
How many young pros today have a snapshot of themselves standing next to Alberto Contador or Vincenzo Nibali at a start line or outside a team bus?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the soul of the sport that stretches back more than a century.<\/p>\n
Fans wait hours for a few fleeting seconds of glory because they love the sport and the proximity to the stars that the Tour provides.<\/p>\n
Charging admission would turn world sport\u2019s last great public block party into another gated, elitist event.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s leave bike racing alone. It\u2019s the last free ticket in town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated November 13, 2025 07:02AM Paid admission at the Tour de France is an idea whose time will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2000,299,36,135594,180405,136152,180406,145622,180407,132984],"class_list":{"0":"post-567809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-france","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-france","11":"tag-parent_category-road","12":"tag-tag-analysis","13":"tag-tag-evergreen","14":"tag-tag-paris-roubaix","15":"tag-tag-tour-de-france","16":"tag-tag-tour-de-hoody","17":"tag-type-article"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115542933231234876","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}