LIVE COVERAGE
By Stefan Schoofveldt, with additional reporting by Chatham George Paulson-Thomas and Claude Aurillac-Issoire
At seventeen minutes past midnight Eastern Time, Donald J. Trump posted to Truth Social that the Tour de France was very overrated. Thirty-four minutes later, he announced he was bringing back the greatest bike race the world had ever seen. This is a record of what has happened. All times shown as EDT (UTC−4) / CEST (UTC+2). European times in 24-hour format. Updates added as events develop.
12:17 AM EDT / 06:17 CEST — The first signal
The post arrives without warning or context, as they often do. Cycling people, who keep strange hours by habit — the 6 AM ride requiring a 5 AM alarm requiring a half-conscious check of the phone at some intermediate hour — are among the first to notice it.
There are, at this hour, perhaps forty people awake and online who know what MACGA means. The rest of the world is asleep. The forty people begin texting each other.
12:33 AM EDT / 06:33 CEST
Dag Otto Lauritzen, reached by a Norwegian journalist whose name we are withholding because it is 6:38 in the morning in Bergen and he had not consented to being the subject of a news story, will later say he has “no comment at this time” and then add, after a pause, “What is happening?”
BREAKING NEWS — 12:51 AM EDT / 06:51 CEST — Tour de Trump
The forty people become four hundred. Screenshots circulate. The phrase “signed papers” generates immediate and intense speculation about what, precisely, has been signed, and what authority it might carry over a private French sporting organization whose legal domicile is in Paris and which has been staging professional bicycle races without American governmental input since 1903.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: We have begun attempting to reach the White House press office, but it is 12:44 AM in Washington.]
1:14 AM EDT / 07:14 CEST
The mention of Campagnolo causes a particular kind of distress among road cyclists that is difficult to explain to non-cyclists and only somewhat easier to explain to cyclists who do not understand what Campagnolo means to people who do. Several European component industry figures will later say this was the moment they understood the situation was serious.
1:38 AM EDT / 07:38 CEST
A White House official, who asked not to be identified because they value their continued employment, confirms by text message that an executive order has been signed. They will not describe its contents. They will not say when it was signed. They add, unprompted: “I am going back to sleep.”
2:03 AM EDT / 8:03 CEST
Mont Ventoux rises 1,617 meters over 21.5 kilometers of exposed Provençal limestone. It has ended careers. It has ended a life. Tom Simpson died on its upper slopes in 1967. The Bedminster hill rises approximately sixty meters over roughly eight hundred meters of New Jersey road. We are not making a comparison. We are simply reporting what was posted.
2:27 AM EDT / 08:27 CEST
Armstrong’s publicist in Austin does not respond to a request for comment sent at 4:11 AM EDT (3:11 AM MDT). This is, to be fair, a completely reasonable position to take at 3:11 in the morning local time.
6:09 AM EDT / 12:09 CEST — Europe wakes up
It is ten minutes past noon in Aigle, Switzerland, and the UCI’s communications office has arrived, had coffee, noticed forty-seven press inquiries, a Truth Social post describing their organization as “very sneaky,” and a threat — now confirmed by a second White House source — of retaliatory tariffs on Swiss chocolate. They issue a brief statement that says they are “aware of the announcement” and are “consulting with member federations.” In UCI terms, this is the institutional equivalent of closing the curtains and sitting very still until the noise stops.
6:51 AM EDT / 12:51 CEST
In Paris, it is approaching noon. Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour de France, holds a brief, unscheduled press conference at the ASO offices. He is wearing a very good suit. He looks like a man who has spent the last two hours being extremely diplomatic in a language other than the one he would prefer to use.
“We note with interest the American President’s announcement,” he says. “The Tour de France has operated continuously since 1903 and is one of the great sporting institutions of the world. We would be happy to share our experience in race organization with any interested parties.”
He is asked whether ASO considers the Tour de Trump a competitive threat.
He smiles the particular way the French smile when they are choosing, with considerable effort, not to say what they actually think.
“We consider all sporting events worthy of respect,” he says.
He is asked about the tariff threat on French wine, cheese, and berets.
The press conference ends.
7:31 AM EDT / 13:31 CEST — The Executive Order
The White House releases the text of the executive order. It is eight pages long. It is formally titled “Restoring American Excellence in the Sport of Cycling and Reviving the Tour de Trump as the World’s Premier Stage Race.” It cites Article Two twice. It contains a section — Section Seven — that is two sentences long and addresses, exclusively, the difficulty of the Bedminster climb.
Section Seven reads: “The Bedminster climb is very challenging. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Section Nine imposes a two-hundred-percent tariff on Campagnolo components. Section Nine, subsection (c) notes that the Secretary of Commerce has requested procedural clarification on the Campagnolo tariff. The request has been received. The Secretary has been asked to proceed.
The full text of the executive order is published separately.
8:08 AM EDT / 14:08 CEST
A directeur sportif for a Belgian WorldTour squad, who asked not to be named because he genuinely could not afford the attention this morning, calls us from what sounds like a car. He has been reading the executive order.
“No drafting,” he says. “Thirty seconds. For three weeks. Has he ever — I mean, has he ever actually watched a bike race?”
He is told the President has watched multiple stages on YouTube.
There is a silence.
“The Campagnolo tariff is the most offensive part,” he says finally. “Two hundred percent. Do you understand what Campagnolo means to cycling? It is not a component. It is a philosophy. Granted, none of us use it at the WorldTour level anymore, but still!”
8:47 AM EDT / 14:47 CEST
We have asked several cyclists. They have, unanimously, not commented.
9:22 AM EDT / 15:22 CEST — Armstrong’s phone call
A source familiar with the situation confirms that Lance Armstrong received a phone call from the President at approximately 1:04 AM CDT / 8:04 AM CEST, which is to say, in the middle of what any reasonable person would describe as the night.
The call lasted twenty-two minutes. The source describes it as “not a conversation in the traditional sense.” The President spoke at length about the Tour de Trump, the mountain stages of the Tour de France (“tremendous, very exciting, like a rally but with bicycles”), the anti-drafting provision (“you go to the front, you race, you don’t hide behind people, very simple”), and the prize money, which he described as “tremendous” but declined to quantify.
Armstrong asked about the prize money three times. Each time, the President confirmed it would be tremendous and moved on.
Armstrong’s role as Special Advisor on Cycling Affairs appears in Section Ten of the executive order. Section Ten notes, in subsection (b), that Mr. Armstrong “has agreed to this appointment” and then, in the same sentence, acknowledges that “he has not explicitly confirmed this, but the President is confident he will.”
Armstrong has still not commented publicly. His publicist says he is “reviewing the opportunity.”
His phone, we are told, has not stopped ringing.
9:55 AM EDT / 15:55 CEST
The Office of American Cycling Excellence, established by Section Eleven of the executive order, does not yet have a director, staff, offices, a website, or a phone number. Section Eleven describes its budget as “to be determined” and adds, in the following sentence, “It will not be a lot. We are cutting spending.”
The OACE is, at this point, a name and a mandate. The mandate is, in full, to organize the Tour de Trump, enforce the executive order, negotiate with the UCI and ASO, manage the golden jersey supply chain, and “generally promote American cycling excellence at home and abroad.” The budget for this mandate is to be determined but will not be a lot.
10:28 AM EDT / 16:28 CEST
The Campagnolo company issues a statement from Vicenza. It notes, with dignity, that the company has been producing precision cycling components since 1933. It expresses confidence in its products. It says it looks forward to “continuing dialogue with all interested parties.” It is accompanied by a product photograph of a Super Record groupset. At current retail, the groupset runs to roughly €4.800 ($5,560 US). Under the proposed tariff: approximately €14.400 ($16,700 US).
Several American retailers who stock high-end Italian components have begun calling their buying offices. None of them wish to be quoted. One of them says, off the record, “I have $200,000 in Campagnolo inventory.” He does not say this in an unhappy way. He says it in the way a man says something when he is trying very hard not to smile in front of a journalist. Then he adds: “My summer reorder is already placed.” He says that part very differently.
11:02 AM EDT / 17:02 CEST — The press briefing
The daily White House press briefing. Maren Forsythe of CyclingPost — credentialed, though until this week her credential had never been especially competitive to obtain — is, for the first time in her publication’s history, in the first row.
Forsythe asks about the anti-drafting provision — specifically whether any professional cycling body has been consulted on its enforceability.
“I think what’s interesting,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt says, “is that the mainstream media and their allies in the so-called professional cycling establishment are already trying to undermine a pro-competition measure that the American people overwhelmingly support. The anti-drafting provision levels the playing field. It rewards individual effort. That’s a very American idea, and I’m not surprised that certain outlets find it threatening.”
Forsythe notes that the question was about enforceability, not ideology.
“The OACE will release technical enforcement details in due course,” Leavitt says. “Next question.”
Forsythe asks about the Bedminster climb.
“The President has visited that property hundreds of times,” Leavitt says. “He has personal and direct knowledge of that climb. He considers it a world-class competitive ascent and I think the American people trust the President’s judgment on that.”
Forsythe asks how it compares, in terms of elevation and gradient, to the climbs of the existing Grand Tours — the Stelvio, the Galibier, the Angliru.
“I’m not going to get into a comparison of mountains with a reporter who I think we all know has a predetermined narrative here,” Leavitt says. “The President certified the climb personally. That certification stands. The stage information will be released by the OACE.”
Forsythe asks when the OACE will have staff.
“That’s a process question and I’d refer you to the Office of Management and Budget,” Leavitt says.
Forsythe asks what the gradient of the Bedminster climb actually is.
Leavitt looks at Forsythe for a moment.
“The OACE,” she says, “will be releasing detailed stage information in due course.”
Forsythe sits down. Several colleagues in the briefing room are studying their shoes.
11:22 AM EDT / 17:22 CEST
The UCI has not confirmed this call took place. A spokesperson says they are “in ongoing consultations with member federations.” This is exactly what they said at eleven this morning. It is likely what they will say tomorrow.
11:37 AM EDT / 17:37 CEST
The Palm Beach County Commissioner’s office confirms it has not been consulted about Stage One’s road closures, which would require shutting approximately forty miles of public road for a full day. A spokesperson says the county is “reviewing the matter.” This is everyone’s favorite phrase today.
The Trump National Doral golf club has not responded to questions about Stage Two’s proposed finish on its grounds.
Bedminster is, by all accounts, still sixty meters tall.
Images of the jersey design have been posted in the press room.
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11:46 AM EDT / 17:46 CEST — Rider reaction, outside Girona
A rider for one of the major WorldTour teams — who declined to be named because he has a contract with a sponsor whose management is based in the United States — speaks briefly from a training ride outside Girona. He is still on his bike. He is riding Campagnolo.
“I read the order,” he says. “All of it. Section Seven is — I mean, have you been to Bedminster? I’ve been to New Jersey. It’s not the Dolomites.”
He is asked about the anti-drafting provision.
“If you take away the peloton, you don’t have bike racing,” he says. “You have a time trial that goes on for three weeks. Nobody can sustain Grand Tour watts without shelter for twenty-one days. The fastest riders in the world would be in medical tents by Stage Three.”
He pauses. Something passes across his face — not quite a smile.
“The golden jersey is hideous,” he adds. “I’m sorry. But it’s hideous.”
He rides away.
11:51 AM EDT / 17:51 CEST
No prize total has been announced. The OACE has not been contacted because the OACE does not exist in any staffed sense.
Armstrong’s publicist says he is still reviewing the opportunity. He has been reviewing it for over nine hours.
11:54 AM EDT / 17:54 CEST — Latest update
The morning ends more or less as it began: in motion, unresolved, and generating more questions than it answers. The UCI has consulted. ASO has noted. Campagnolo has expressed confidence in continued dialogue. The Secretary of Commerce has requested a clarification that has been overruled. The Bedminster climb remains, by all independent measurement, sixty meters tall.
Professional cycling is a sport accustomed to improbable weather, unexpected suffering, and events that make very little sense while they are happening. Its people are not, generally, easily surprised. They have seen riders fall asleep on descents and cross finish lines bleeding. They have watched men climb mountains in conditions that would ground aircraft. They have followed races through floods, strikes, and at least one kidnapping attempt.
They have not, until now, been subject to a presidential executive order regulating aerodynamic behavior in the peloton.
This afternoon, the UCI will consult further. ASO will note further. Armstrong will continue reviewing. The golden jersey will be, by all accounts, very gold.
And somewhere in Vicenza, a factory that has been making the finest bicycle components in the world since 1933 will begin a very difficult conversation with its American distributors.
The Tour de Trump has not yet announced its start date. The executive order says the OACE will provide this information “in due course.” The OACE has not yet hired anyone.
But the papers have been signed. The President was there when they were signed. He ran the whole thing personally.
He remembers it differently now. He always has.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is a developing story. We will update as events warrant. It is not yet noon.]
