The Tour de France is on!

Despite the social and health crisis we are going through, the Tour de France 2020 is now underway: with the cyclists finally starting the race on August 29th. This is great news, for the millions of enthusiastic cyclists and cycling fans around the world – myself included.

The Tour de France is an opportunity to shed light on strong values. Values that L'Oréalians in countries all around the world live by everyday.

It is exciting news, not only because “La Grande Boucle” is a major sporting event, and not just because it is a popular festival followed and awaited by millions of people around the world. It’s important because I fundamentally believe that the Tour de France is an opportunity to shed light on strong values. Values that I defend and share. And, values that L'Oréalians in countries all around the world live by everyday.

The first of these values is will. A great cyclist, just like a world-leading company, needs to devote all his energy to reach the goal he has set himself. The Tour is like a business project: it is made up of climbs and descents, passes, lengths, days of discouragement, adversity and wins. It can be made easier by a tailwind or hindered by a headwind. To get to the end, and achieve their goals, the sports champion and world-leading company alike must show determination, resilience, endurance and courage. They must train, prepare, anticipate and understand the path they must follow. In order to move forward and succeed in cycling and in business, you have to know where you are going and what you believe in - even if the idea sounds absolutely crazy – knowing that your will, skills and hard work will take you all the way to the end. I’ve experienced this at first hand, when I had the crazy idea of riding up one of the Tour’s most famous summits, Mont Ventoux, and had the “pleasure” and sense of achievement of getting to the top with friends. 

The second value is the spirit of innovation. In 30 years, the Tour de France has changed profoundly. Technological advances have increased cyclists’ performance and have helped them to get the best out of themselves. For example, in 1992, Motorola introduced the headset, which put cyclists and their sports managers in direct contact. Today, cycling has since become one of the most connected sports! Cyclists wear heart sensors and bikes are equipped with power sensors and GPS: all the data collected is transferred to online platforms, allowing coaches to follow their riders remotely, and adapt their training and regime constantly. Not to mention the bikes themselves, which now look and feel more like Formula 1 cars than ordinary bicycles. This is what innovation is all about: growing and accelerating. Innovation and talent are what allow you to race ahead, in business and in cycling alike.

The third value is the collective spirit. One of the most unexpected and surprising things for those who not know about cycling, is that it is a collective sport. All the most recent winners of the Tour de France won, not just because they were great cyclists, but because they had the best team, with their team-mates protecting them from the wind, preventing others from attacking them, supporting them during hard climbs etc.. Just like in business, you cannot win the Tour de France alone, and building the best and most complementary team is the number one role of the manager. In the same way: the strength of L'Oréal, which is the world leader in beauty, is our ability to bring together tens of thousands of talents from around the world and create a collective that is stronger than the sum of our individual talents.

The strength of L'Oréal is our ability to bring together tens of thousands of talents from around the world and create a collective that is stronger than the sum of our individual talents.

Lastly, the Tour de France and L'Oréal have an obvious point in common: they both promote France throughout the world. The Tour de France? It is an extraordinary showcase of our history, and of our landscape; it is proof of the diversity of our regions. L'Oréal? It is a genuine-French brand, intimately linked to our culture and our concept of beauty. It is a symbol of success. It is a company that radiates, like the Tour radiates: two things that the French are proud of, because the world admires them.

Today, more than ever, we need will, innovation, collective spirit and pride to face the economic and social crisis.

As a cycling fan, I’d like to like to send a personal message of good luck to all the competitors taking part in this year’s race, and especially to Thibaut Pinot and the Groupama-FDJ team, under the leadership of their sports director, Marc Madiot.

B. Papon / L'équipe

I hope that this year’s edition of the France will continue, despite the continued pressures of COVID-19 and that this year’s race will provide us thrills and joy. Something that I think we all need right now!