The mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo was present as is the tradition at the arrival of the Tour de France on the Champs-Elysées this Sunday.
On the sidelines of the Danish Jonas Vingegaard's coronation, she announced that the City of Paris would associate her name with the B&B Hotels team.
A new sponsor has yet to arrive and the final name of this team is not yet known.
Anne Hidalgo also acknowledged the difficulties for Paris to welcome the arrival of the Tour in 2024, due to the Olympics.
Why is the City of Paris associated with B&B Hotels?
ANNE HIDALGO.
Paris joins forces with a professional cycling team to promote women's and men's cycling, as well as the fight against doping, with a serious and independent system put in place by the team.
This fits well with our values.
Is it sponsorship?
The City of Paris will not finance, there will be no public money in this operation.
On the other hand, it can be extremely important in boosting cycling culture.
Paris is a city where this culture already exists.
For example, we have one of the biggest amateur cycling clubs, the Paris Olympique Cycliste (POC), which already trains a lot of cyclists.
I hope that this club like others will be embarked on this collective adventure.
There are links between the very high level, amateur sport, and cycling as a mode of daily travel.
How was this done with B&B Hotels?
There was an opportunity with this team, which comes from the private sector, which came to ask me if Paris could give its name to this adventure.
Since there were all these values, a male and female team, the fact that it is at the forefront in the fight against doping made me say yes.
What will the name of the team be?
There will be Paris Cycling and then there will be the name of the sponsors.
There will be a city logo.
And it's without public money on our part.
Not a penny, not a vote on the city budget.
Will the Tour arrive in Paris in 2024?
We'll see.
This is a subject we are discussing with Christian Prudhomme.
It is an important subject.
The arrival of the Tour will almost coincide with the opening of the Olympic Games.
We work together intelligently on alternative solutions.
But we will communicate with Christian Prudhomme.
We are pragmatic.
We'll find a solution.
The opening of the Games is July 26, 2024. This means that during the preceding weeks, the Place de la Concorde will have to organize itself.
The question of the absence of the Champs-Elysées on the Tour is not taboo.
We will communicate in due time.
