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Cycling Fans run alongside Tadej Pogacar during the 2024 Giro d'Italia Luca Bettini/Getty Images “Without a bicycle, my horizon wouldn’t have been much further than the hedge at the end of the field, ” Raymond Poulidor said towards the end of his life. The Frenchman characterised much of cycling’s inner spirit — a farmer from rural France whose upbringing mirrored the sport’s origins, a lion-hearted competitor who proved that panache matters as much as a palmares. His grandson, Mathieu van der Poel, displays many of the same characteristics. Advertisement This quote has always stood out as an example of cycling’s unique relationship with its fans, with its own future, with the landscape it inhabits. Poulidor’s horizons may have shifted, but at the same time, the truth is that they did not. Cycling’s ‘stadiums’ are not the steep overhanging tiers of the Bombonera in Buenos Aires or the brutalist grandeur of San Siro in Milan. When a race begins, camera flashes do not go off as they do at a Super Bowl kick-off. For the most part, its stadiums are what Poulidor says. They are country roads, mountain passes, and hedges at the end of fields. Poulidor was never riding away, but riding through. It is why recent proposals suggested by riders — to charge for access to cycling’s most iconic climbs — have caused such debate across the sport. “I’m going to shock some people, but they’ve created a stage that will go up Alpe d’Huez twice, ” said former professional Jerome Pineau, kicking off the debate on RMC Sports Grand Plateau podcast last month. “Let’s privatize the last 5 kilometers of Alpe d’Huez. “Let’s charge admission, let’s have VIPs, let’s create something to make money. Historically, cycling is a popular sport, a free sport. But 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’t it? ” Pineau has reasons to consider the viability of cycling’s long-term future. The Frenchman is a former general manager of Arkea-B&B Hotels, the Breton minnows forced to cease operating this off-season due to a terminal financial situation. A quick recap: teams do not receive a share of broadcasting rights from the all-powerful Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO), which organises the majority of the sport’s most significant races. It leaves them reliant on the benevolence of sponsors — which in a sport dominated by a small number of high-budget superteams, such as UAE Team Emirates — are increasingly difficult to find. Other figures agree with him. Wout van Aert, who expressed his frustration at cycling’s financial model in an interview with The Athletic in November, believes cycling needed to be bolder. Advertisement “In cycling, we may be a bit too focused on the charm and the folksiness, ” he told Belgian business newspaper De Tijd. “If you ask €5 entrance money, that doesn’t mean it’s no longer a people’s sport. Cyclocross also charges admission, and nothing is more ‘of the people’ than that. We should dare to rethink things like that. ” UCI president David Lappartient did not immediately rule it out. While recognizing that “charging for public space in France is complicated”, he described it as “not impossible, but it would be a revolution”. “If you want to charge for the Tour de France, you’re in for a long haul, ” he added. There are reasons why riders might like this. Overcrowding on summit finishes is a genuine issue, particularly on iconic mountains such as Alpe d’Huez. Already, certain slopes inhibit racing — with riders unable to overtake rivals through a thicket of bodies, or, as memorably occurred to Chris Froome on the legendary Mont Ventoux, impede the TV motorbike to the extent that the yellow jersey had to run up the climb while waiting for a replacement bike. When Chris Froome provided us with most iconic Mont Ventoux moment in Tour de France history ? ⛰ pic. twitter. com/L4k7cn ZFiv — Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) July 22, 2025 And what if it could increase salaries? The lower reaches of the peloton live year to year on little more than free kit, free Band-Aids, and all the nutrition they can consume in eight months. Poulidor’s eternal rival Jacques Anquetil, transparent in his financial motivations, would likely have relished the idea. But although Anquetil was the winner of five yellow jerseys between 1957 and 1964 (Poulidor famously didn’t even wear the yellow jersey for a single day), and was undoubtedly the superior rider, it is just one reason why Poupou, the eternal second, remained the hero of working-class France. Advertisement And there is another central issue around this point. Would there be any guarantee that a single euro of ticketing revenues would ever reach the teams, let alone the riders? If ASO keeps the entirety of broadcasting revenue, even charging teams for their own hospitality zones, it seems unlikely that much of the money generated from paying fans would trickle too far down. Fortunately, that is a debate which does not need to be litigated. The ASO have already indicated their opposition to such an idea, with deputy director Pierre-Yves Thouault, telling Belgian newspaper Derniere Heure that: “In its essence, cycling is free and bringing in a ticketing system is absolutely not on the current agenda”. Essence is the right word. That is what is at stake with these proposals. The only races that could sustain this interest, for definite, would be the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and Paris-Roubaix. At a stretch, this could be extended to certain stages of the Vuelta, the Poggio at Milano-Sanremo, the final climb into Siena at Strade Bianche, and some sections of the Tour of Flanders. But for the first three, at least, the race is the soul of the region’s cycling. Is that because of the racing itself? No. In cycling, race is plural; ‘the race’ includes and consumes those at the sides of the road. The soul is the spectacle, which is, by definition, the supporters as well. Lose fans from the race’s key moments? You risk losing much more. The hordes of fans on Alpe d’Huez are one of cycling’s iconic images, pressed together in reverence along each of the 21 bends. The area is already an exclusive resort for wealthy skiers all winter. Should the mountain be barriered throughout summer as well? Paid €50 for access to the Dutch corner, orange T-shirt included? Organizers may even be asked to establish regular routes based on hospitality access. Alpe d’Huez features in the next year’s Tour de France for the first time since 2022; scarcity would surely be sacrificed if there was money to be made. Meanwhile, some destinations might prove too tricky to plan for. The precipitous tracks up Ventoux? Even for the travelling circus, one of sport’s greatest logistical feats, ticketed corporate entertainment may be too much on a lonely mountain that is frequently battered by high winds. “We’re the last major sport that’s free, ” said FDJ boss Marc Madiot. “It’s one of the sport’s strengths. ” Advertisement Perhaps a compromise is possible. The Tour of Flanders has implemented a VIP section on the Oude Kwaremont climb, a route change which was initially hated by the fans, but which has generally led to better racing. There are also key differences here: this isn’t the finish line, it takes place on a closing circuit where supporters can watch riders pass multiple times, and the Tour of Flanders is a one-day race. In theory, if teams want to generate money, they could each be allocated their own zones at some stage of the race — not for long stretches, or at the race’s most crucial moment — but where they could charge for access in return for access to riders post-race, food, past legends of the sport? 20 zones, each 50m long, generating a couple of thousand euros per day? There would surely be no real issue there. But in a sporting landscape which is increasingly a race to the bottom line, cycling needs to celebrate its differences. This week, FIFA have been accused of a “monumental betrayal of the tradition of the World Cup”, with tickets for England’s opening game, for example, eight times higher than they were at the 2024 men’s European Championship in Germany. There are also concerns over whether fans will be allowed to sit behind the goals or whether these areas will be reserved for the highest, neutral bidders. Cycling has a heap of its own problems: safety, funding models, sportswashing. But it also has an undeniable beauty: the landscape, the people, the accessibility. Boldness does not always equal change. Sometimes, boldness is keeping things the way they are. Jacob Whitehead is a reporter for The Athletic who covers investigations, cycling, and Newcastle United. He previously worked on the news desk. In 2025, he was a Gold Award winner at the 30 to Watch journalism awards. Follow Jacob on Twitter @jwhitey98