The Tour de France, a showcase for cycling under the influence of fossil fuels

On the winding roads of the Tour de France, the bicycle embodies the ideal of sober mobility. But behind the popular celebration and the sporting effort, another mechanism is at work: that of a symbolic reconquest of the ecological transition by hydrocarbon champions.

At the end of June, the French oil giant announced the signing of an official partnership with the Tour de France for three years, starting in 2026. TotalEnergies is also the main sponsor of a team – bearing its name – competing in the race.

Within the Grande Boucle peloton, six other teams (out of 23) are linked, directly or indirectly, to the hydrocarbon industry: UAE Team Emirates-XRG, backed by the United Arab Emirates, one of the world's largest oil-producing states; Ineos Grenadiers, named after a British petrochemical giant (Ineos) and an off-road vehicle from its automotive division, the Grenadier; Bahrain Victorious, funded by Bahrain, a country whose economy is largely dependent on oil production; Jayco-AlUla, named after a city in Saudi Arabia, Al-Ula, at the center of a major tourism project in that state, which is also one of the world's leading oil producers; XDS-Astana, funded by a sovereign wealth fund backing Kazakhstan's oil and gas company; and Uno-X Mobility, a chain of gas stations operating in Norway and Denmark.

You have 80.73% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.