Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and J SPORTS Broadcasting Corporation have agreed to the license through 2013 within Japan territory for exclusive live broadcast of seven cycling races, including of Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana. With the renewal, ASO and J SPORTS will continue to present the most exciting cycle road race programs to Japanese cycling fans and viewers together.

The new license agreement covers Tour de France 2010-2013, Vuelta a Espana 2009-2013 as well as five other cycling races 2010-2013, Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, Flèche-Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Paris-Tours.

Tour de France which will celebrate 100th edition anniversary in 2013 consists of 21 stages where around 180 riders compete through the total distance of about 3,500 km. In 2009, two Japanese riders, Yukiya Arashiro (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) and Fumiyuki Beppu (Skil-Shimano), participate in the race and are heading to the final goal, Champs-Élysées in Paris.

“We, J SPORTS, are very pleased to agree with ASO to renew the license through 2013, including the greatest cycling event, Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana and other famous classic races,” said Masayoshi Takaba, President of J SPORTS Broadcasting Corporation. “In Japan, awareness and popularity over Tour de France generates every year. Especially this year, two Japanese riders participate for the first time in 13 years, and with the impressive performance of Yukiya Arashiro and Fumiyuki Beppu, the excitement is spreading larger now. We hope we would continue contributing to further development of cycling culture in Japan that is ecological and healthy.”

Yann Le Moenner, Deputy Director, A.S.O., told, “We are very pleased to extend these 10 years collaboration with J SPORTS and continue to show the Tour the France live in Japan. Hopefully, thanks to this partnership, there will be more and more Arashiro and Beppu to come in the near future and ride the Tour de France”.

Christian Prudhomme, Director of Tour de France, A.S.O., said, “I am glad of this contract’s signature. This year, I feel like the Tour is becoming bigger in Japan. It is the first time that we see Japanese flags on the roads of the race, and also two riders from Japan are participating in this magnificent event. This development is closely related to J Sports that has been a pioneer in HD broadcasting of the Tour in Japan, and the inventor of the event, ‘Night of Tour de France’, that I had the chance to participate in last December”.

Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), is the Tour de France organizer which locates in Issy-les-Moulineaux cedex, France with its Deputy Director, Yann Le Moenner. J SPORTS Broadcasting Corporation is the largest sports program broadcaster in Japan which operates four sports-dedicated TV channels. It is located in Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan, and its President is Masayoshi Takaba.


Press Contact

Christophe Marchadier +33 (0)1 41 33 15 35 / +33 (0)6 07 02 42 17 / cmarchadier@aso.fr

Hiromi Okuno +81-(0)3-5500-3466 / hiromi.okuno@jsports.co.jp