Partly the color of newspaper pages, evocative in just the right way, and largely the wealth of detail that only Il Sole 24 Ore knows how to deploy. It is not a sterile exercise in accounting voyeurism that the Confindustria newspaper proposed on Sunday, engaged, in its own way, in drawing up a balance sheet of the Tour de France "economic machine that every summer travels through the hexagon and another neighboring piece of Europe" – writes Mario Nicoliello in the article titled "The Tour's business turnover reaches 180 million, but cyclists get only 1%".

Seen by cycling enthusiasts, it may seem like a reduction to a product of enduring emotion, a symbol of many things whose value certainly cannot be confined to cold accounting. Yet, that the Tour functions as a well-oiled machine, grinding out profits, is shown by 370 million euros in revenue for organizer ASO, driven by one billion spectators, 150 million in Europe alone, global audience also reflected in 146 million followers.

A full page (number 11) with which Le Sole takes stock of the Grande Boucle, especially highlighting the uniqueness of the successful blend between spectacular figures, the fundamental driver of television rights (worth half the business turnover), 190 countries reached through around a hundred broadcasters (only France Tv invests 30 million annually for the Tour).

"The second pillar of the business is sponsorships, which represent 40 percent of revenues, the third source of income is made up of commissions paid by territories. A French city (we might add a small town, editor's note) spends at least 80 thousand euros to host a start and no less than 120 thousand for a finish, which becomes 400 thousand for a major mountain stage". Emblematic, and not new even in Italy which hosted it in 2024, the impact of the Grand Départ, estimated at 100 million against an investment of 10 million by Barcelona. The Sagrada Familia and Montjuïc became powerful vectors of visibility, through noble pedaling. The wheel turns and the accounts add up.