Outraged French Winemakers Plan to Disrupt the Tour de France

There may be a lot of "French surrender" jokes out there, but you don't want to mess with the French when it comes to wine and the Tour de France. French wine is the most celebrated in the world, and the Tour de France is the only bike race that most people have heard of.

But in a disaster that should have been seen coming from miles away—kind of like a multi-bike accident that wipes out the whole pack—French winemakers are furious that the Tour de France has partnered with the Chilean wine producer Cono Sur as an official tour sponsor until 2017. Outraged winemakers are now threatening to block the racecourse at key junctures. Sacré bleu!

According to Decanter, winemakers in the Aude area of Languedoc-Rousillon took profound umbrage at the notion that anything but French wine could represent the tour. The winemakers' union president, Frédéric Rouanet, had strong words for tour organizer Amaury Sport and said the union plans to "disrupt the Tour de France."

"We have no contact with Amaury Sport and we feel very strongly about the issue," Rouanet told Decanter. "We intend to block the Tour de France at strategic steps if a French wine is not chosen to represent this cycling event, the emblem of France."

Languedoc-Rousillon is in southern France and borders the Mediterranean. The tour will pass through the region on Stage 11, which takes cyclists from Carcassonne to Montpellier.

Languedoc-Rousillon is also "home to the militant winemaking group CRAV"—as Decanter reports—"whose balaclava-clad members have intermittently attacked foreign wine installations in the area over the past few decades."

"A lot of winemakers are ready to jump in to promote French wine," said Rouanet ominously.

But the winemakers may be protesting in vain. France's Évin Law prohibits alcohol from being promoted during athletic events. The deal with Cono Sur is only valid for the Tour de France's foreign segments in Spain and Switzerland, and French winemakers wouldn't be allowed to sponsor the Tour de France within France itself, either.

This isn't the first time the Tour has been threatened by protesters. In 1966, the riders themselves boycotted Stage Six when they heard that they were going to be drug-tested, and walked their bikes for part of the route.

It isn't clear how the situation will be resolved at this stage, but we're perhaps looking at an incredibly French confrontation on July 13, when cyclists and winemakers could clash on the roads of beautiful Languedoc, causing the streets to run red with wine. What a great way to celebrate the day before Bastille Day. Vive la France!