German public-service broadcaster ARD has signed a three-year extension to its rights deal for cycling’s Tour de France.
The agreement with event organiser Amaury Sport Organisation covers the three editions of the event, from 2019 to 2021. It expands coverage of the Tour, as well as adding other ASO-backed events, including the Deutschland Tour, and the Paris-Roubaix and Eschborn-Frankfurt races.
The Deutschland Tour will be covered by both ARD and fellow public-service broadcaster ZDF, while Paris-Roubaix will be televised on a German public channel for the first time since 2008. The Eschborn-Frankfurt race will be covered in association with the HR regional channel.
Yann Le Moenner, ASO chief executive, said: “The decision that we have made together with ARD and ZDF is accompanied by both the sporting and popular success of Eschborn-Frankfurt and the renaissance of the Deutschland Tour. The general membership movement that we are seeing around the development of German cycling naturally encourages us to continue the adventure.”
ARD returned to broadcasting the Tour by signing a two-year deal in 2015 covering the 2015 and 2016 races. This agreement was extended in February 2017 for two years.