French cycling team aims to end 40-year Tour de France drought with major investment
With race leader Tadej Pogačar poised to retain his title when cycling's biggest event concludes Sunday on the Champs-Elysées, that drought appears set to continue.
The Slovenian three-time Tour champion holds a comfortable lead in the general classification. The top French rider, Kevin Vauquelin, sits in fifth place, more than 10 minutes behind.
Over the past four decades, France has produced talented riders such as Thibaut Pinot, Romain Bardet, Warren Barguil or Julian Alaphilippe. All raised hopes but ultimately fell short, often facing rivals backed by stronger and better-funded teams.
That equation could change following an announcement Monday during the Tour's second rest day. Decathlon, a global sporting goods company, is joining forces with CMA CGM, one of the world's largest shipping firms, to invest in a French team with Tour-winning ambitions.
Decathlon, a sporting goods brand, had previously announced it would take over full ownership of the French team currently known as Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, from AG2R La Mondiale, at the end of the 2025 season.
With an estimated budget of 40 million euros ($47 million) — compared to the 60 million euros available to Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates-XRG — the team aims to win the Tour de France within the next five years.
'We are determined to write a historic new chapter for French and global sport,' said Dominique Serieys, the team's general director.
Serieys has outlined strong ambitions for the coming seasons, targeting success in Grand Tour stages and one-day classics such as Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo. The ultimate goal is to win the Tour de France by 2030, with a French rider.
One of the team's most promising French prospects is 18-year-old Paul Seixas, who finished eighth at this year's Critérium du Dauphiné — a key preparation race for the Tour. The team opted not to include him in this year's Tour squad, believing the move would come too early in his development.
Serieys told BFM Marseille that the 2030 Tour de France project will be built around Seixas.
'But we need time, because his first results are probably expected in 2028,' he said. 'We need to give Paul time to understand, learn and perform.'
Asked about the new project on Monday, Pogačar welcomed the news.
'They can be top candidates for winning the Tour in the coming years,' he told a news conference.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business of Fashion
an hour ago
- Business of Fashion
Opinion: The Big Luxury Simulation Is Over
In 'Simulacra and Simulation' (1981), the late French philosopher Jean Baudrillard posited that we no longer live in a directly experienced reality, but in a 'hyperreality': a world so heavily mediated by images that they are more powerful in shaping the way we live our daily lives than the real world. Four decades later, anyone on Instagram understands this intuitively. Our decisions — from what we buy to who we befriend — are shaped by imagery. In the luxury industry, an object's symbolic value was always more important than its material value. But the age of the hyperreal pushed this logic to an extreme. Whereas luxury once meant beautifully crafted objects, it became about storytelling. Instead of luxury goods, brands retooled to deliver luxury narratives. And as long as their products signalled luxury, they realised they could cut corners on quality to boost margins and meet growing demand without alienating shoppers. This strategy has proved stunningly successful, especially with people who grew up in a world of simulacra, conditioned to consume markers of goods more than the goods themselves. As Dana Thomas noted in 'Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster' (2007), 'Consumers don't buy luxury branded items for what they are, but for what they represent.' On social media as in the street, what mattered were symbols of luxury. But fast-forward to the present and it appears this logic has its limits. That the post-Covid luxury boom has given way to a sharp downturn in demand is not simply a reflection of macroeconomic pressures. A combination of soaring prices and declining quality has left many consumers feeling their intelligence is being insulted, which suggests symbols of luxury still need to be anchored in tangible value to command steep sums. Last year, when Dior was taken to task for the use of a sweatshop labour in its supply chain, Italian prosecutors alleged the brand paid little more than €50 euros a piece for bags which retailed for more than €2500 each. Now LVMH stablemate Loro Piana has been pulled up by the same probe. Such stories make the luxury industry look like a scam selling empty signifiers to suckers. It's no surprise that sales of superfakes — low-cost, high-fidelity replicas mostly made in China and sold directly to customers via WhatsApp groups and social media — have rocketed, driven by a new attitude to counterfeits. Whereas owning a fake once came with a sense of shame, now it's seen as a savvy move. Why risk feeling stupid for buying subpar, overpriced goods, when you can game the system? It's not that people no longer want the symbols of luxury. But those symbols have to be grounded in great product to be believable. And if the entire luxury industry has become a simulacrum, where the symbol is hollow, there is little difference between the real and its copy. It's well known what one gets when one buys a superfake. It's more interesting to consider what one doesn't get: provenance. But if few customers seem to care, it's because luxury's narratives of origin and superior craftsmanship no longer seem credible. We have reached the last stop on the simulacrum express. Can the industry find its way back to the land of the real? Making actual luxury goods and not just telling stories about making luxury goods would be a good place to start. The views expressed in Opinion pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Business of Fashion. How to submit an Opinion piece: The Business of Fashion accepts opinion articles on a wide range of topics. The suggested length is 700-1000 words, but submissions of any length within reason will be considered. All submissions must be original and exclusive to BoF. Submissions may be sent to opinion@ Please include 'Opinion |' in the subject line and be sure to substantiate all assertions. Given the volume of submissions we receive, we regret that we are unable to respond in the event that an article is not selected for publication.
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
How to Watch Tour de France 2025 Stage 16: Live Stream Cycling, TV Channel
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Tour de France finished up Stage 16 on Tuesday with Valentin Paret-Peintre etching his name into the Tour, scooping up a victory in an emotional sprint to the finish. The 24-year-old outdid Ben Healy and Santiago Buitrago to claim the first French win of the 2025 Tour. Wednesday's Stage 17 will get underway in Bollène on Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. ET and will be streaming on Peacock. Irish Ben Healy of EF Education-EasyPost crosses the finish line of stage 16 of the 2025 Tour de France cycling race, from Montpellier to Mont Ventoux (172 km), on Tuesday 22 July 2025 in France.... Irish Ben Healy of EF Education-EasyPost crosses the finish line of stage 16 of the 2025 Tour de France cycling race, from Montpellier to Mont Ventoux (172 km), on Tuesday 22 July 2025 in France. The 112th edition of the Tour de France starts on Saturday 5 July in Lille, France, and will finish in Paris, France on the 27th of July. More Photo by JASPER JACOBS/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images How to Watch Tour de France 2025 Stage 17 When: Wednesday, July 23, 2025 Time: 7:00 AM ET Where: Bollène > Valence Live Stream: Peacock (WATCH LIVE) After the brutal ascent of Ventoux, sprinters get their spotlight. Stage 17 rolls from Bollène to Valence, spanning 160.4 km of rolling terrain, punctuated by two fourth-category climbs and an opportunistic flat finale This stage serves as a strategic pause between mountain battles, sprinting prowess meets tactical acumen in what could become a classic flats showdown. This will be the last stand for sprinters to get ahead in the race, with the Alps still ahead on the course. The crosswinds on this stage could shuffle the pack; the Rhône Valley route could bring some unpredictability to this stage. Riders like Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier are primed to fight for intermediate points and that coveted green jersey. Fans can catch all the action live streaming on Peacock, which has exclusive coverage of every stage from start to finish. Live stream Tour de France 2025 Stage 17 on Peacock: Start your subscription now! Regional restrictions may apply. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.
Business Insider
2 hours ago
- Business Insider
$0.60: What It Costs to Buy Over-the-Air Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) Channels
We all know that over-the-air television is in the doldrums right now, and local channels business worldwide is coming under similar strain. That being said, Sky New Zealand discovered firsthand just what it takes to buy local channels operations from entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). How does $0.60 sound to you? It sounded like good news to investors, who gave shares a fractional boost in the closing minutes of Tuesday's trading. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Sky New Zealand paid Warner NZ$1, which was worth about $0.60 US at the time of the report, in exchange for Warner's local channels business in New Zealand. The deal will make Sky the major force in TV media, giving it 100% of outstanding shares in Discovery NZ on a '…cash-free debt-free basis.' This will also give Sky 35% of the linear television ad market revenue share, and about 24% of the same thing in digital TV. Sky will also end up with the Three free-to-air channel as well as the ThreeNow streaming platform. Further, Warner will even supply content for the next several years as a 'multi-year agreement' has been established to do just that. The deal is expected to close August 1, and the New Zealand Commerce Commission has quietly advised both sides that it will not be objecting to any part of the deal. Max Surge Meanwhile, Warner will be pushing its streaming operations that much harder. HBO Max recently added around 12 new territories, mostly in Europe. With the addition of Tajikistan, Malta, Lithuania, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Iceland, Georgia, Estonia, Cyprus, Armenia and Albania, Warner clears the 90-market mark with hopes to clear 100 soon. Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom are all set for a launch early in 2026. Sports, meanwhile, will be well-represented here too. Eurosport access will be involved, with Tour de France racing, US Open tennis, the PGA Tour and more coming up. And sports on HBO Max will also be available with an add-on option. Is WBD Stock a Good Buy? Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on WBD stock based on 10 Buys and eight Holds assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 48.49% rally in its share price over the past year, the average WBD price target of $13 per share implies 1.13% upside potential.
