Letters: Le Tour de France is more about big business than national identity
A reader takes issue with our columnist's view that the Tour De France reflects 'the state of France itself and its illusions of grandeur'
Le Tour de France will finish in Paris this year, after ending in Nice in 2024 due to the Paris Olympic Games
Radu Razvan/Shutterstock
To the Editor,
I generally enjoy the column by Nabila Ramdani with her thought-provoking and well-argued points.
Sadly, her latest, ostensibly about the , is more a moan about the state of France and less to do with the Tour and what she calls its myth.
Given the continuing spats between France and Algeria, she may see things through different eyes from those of us who do not live in the 鈥榥eglected sink estates鈥�, and one would be hard-pressed to find any thinking person in France who does not, in current circumstances, see a shade of hypocrisy in the revolutionary slogan libert茅, 茅galit茅, fraternit茅.
Yet none of that has anything to do with the Tour de France: her amalgame of the two issues debases her journalism.
That said, I feel Nabila Ramdani misses a point in her portrayal of the myth of the Tour, which is that it has over the years completely surrendered to big money 鈥� the sponsors and their tax breaks, the advertising, the prize money pot and the manner of the Tour鈥檚 (advert-loaded) televising which focuses almost exclusively on the big sponsors鈥� teams.
That, surely, is what has led to the playing-down of miraculous data, cheating and suspicion (in Ms Ramdani鈥檚 words).
In that sense I would agree that the Tour is a questionable reflection of French identity. But we鈥檒l all still go to see it pass through our villages and countryside, won鈥檛 we?
And we'll all enjoy the tacky caravane as it passes. O tempora, o mores!
Mike Storey, Ille-et-Vilaine
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Nabila replies: I do think major sporting events say a lot about national identity, especially ones with a country name in the title!
Le Tour de France is certainly a very big part of modern France and its scandals (cheating, corruption etc.) reflect the state of France itself and its illusions of grandeur.
It is not an 鈥榓malgame鈥� but a metaphor based on facts.
Nonetheless, I always sneak a look at the Tour when I can. It鈥檚 a bit like cricket 鈥� you don鈥檛 have to have a clue about what鈥檚 going on to find it relaxing!
Did the doping scandals stop you enjoying Le Tour de France? Let us know at letters@connexionfrance.com
