ASO reacts to Tour de France paid ticketing debate

"Cycling is free by definition," said Pierre-Yves Thouault, Deputy Director of Cycling at ASO, in comments to La Dernière Heure. "The introduction of ticket sales is not an issue at all."

The statement via ASO comes after former pro rider and team manager Jérôme Pineau recently suggested implementing entrance fees for the Tour's most famous mountain stages as a way to generate additional revenue.

"Then let's block off the last five kilometres of this climb, privatise it. Then it is possible to charge an entrance fee. So let's also receive VIPs. Let's create something to make money!" Pineau enthusiastically proposed during a podcast appearance on RMC Sport’s 'Grand Plateau'.

Further supporters of the ticketing model include former rider and race organiser of the Vento Classic, Filippo Pozzato, stating, "I think it's the only solution we have to survive in the future. We are the only sport that does not have a model with ticketing."

The suggestion of a paid ticketing model received immediate pushback from Groupama-FDJ team manager Marc Madiot, who was also present during the discussion and expressed opposition to the idea.

UCI President David Lappartient had already voiced his disapproval of a paid ticketing model in cycling, pointing to potential public backlash. "If you try to get people to pay to see the Tour, you get huge resistance. Just look at what happens when you tinker with the pension system," Lappartient told French newspaper Ouest France.

ASO's clear rejection for now appears to put an end to any serious consideration of implementing paid access to Tour de France mountain stages, reinforcing the sport's tradition of free public viewing that has been central to cycling's popularity since its inception, whilst it appears that race organisers will look for other methods to generate revenue streams such as hospitality and VIP packages, which have risen in popularity in recent years in races like the Tour de France and the Tour of Flanders.