Interest in the Tour de France is growing worldwide despite cycling’s battle with doping, but the host nation is bucking the trend, according to a study released yesterday.
France is a rare country where interest in the Tour de France has fallen over the past three years, according to sports data company Repucom.
However, globally there has been a rise in interest, with 23 percent of people saying they follow Tour de France news, up from 20 percent in 2012. Repucom said it polled 11,000 people in 11 countries, covering adults and teenagers in the general population.
It found France was the only country to record a drop, from 33 percent of the population in 2012 to 32 percent.
In the US, home of shamed former champion Lance Armstrong, interest has grown 4 percentage points to 18 percent of the population.
In Britain, where current leader Chris Froome comes from, the rise was 1 percentage point to 22 percent.
The Netherlands and Spain had the highest interest at 38 percent. The Spanish market was stable from 2012, but in the Netherlands the rise was 3 percentage points.
“Following the doping scandals that rocked cycling over the last 10 years, we are now seeing that the sport is turning a corner, in terms of fan popularity and in terms of sponsorship,” Repucom research head Mike Wragg said.
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