If you’ve watched professional cycling for long enough, there’s a high chance you’ve spotted the Pro Cycling Stats (PCS) campervan on television.
The team behind the online cycling results database follow races around Europe in their campervan with ‘PCS’ branding to connect with cycling teams and the general public. But the vehicle has been harder to spot at the 2025 Tour de France.
PCS said in a statement released earlier this month that Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), organisers of the Tour de France, “more or less forced us to hide our PCS branding during every stage, from the publicity caravan to the broom wagon. It wasn’t our choice, but we had no option to comply to avoid legal trouble.”
“Riding on the coat tails”
In an email sent to Stephan van der Zwan, CEO of Pro Cycling Stats, and seen by BikeRadar, an ASO spokesperson explained that it is the “exclusive owner of the exploitation rights for the cycling events” it organises, which includes the Tour de France, La Vuelta and Paris–Roubaix.
The email sent in early June says that PCS has been “riding on the coat tails of certain ASO events for which it holds no media accreditation by conspicuously parking a campervan branded with the ‘ProCyclingStats.com’ trademark”.
To protect the rights of official partners and accredited media, the email says, if Pro Cycling Stats continues to be visible “ASO will not hesitate to take appropriate action to enforce its rights".
Van der Zwan spoke to BikeRadar from his campervan in France on Bastille Day. The campervan’s gearbox is broken and the national day of France meant he was unable to find a mechanic to fix it. Van der Zwan said he responded to the ASO email, saying he was open to dialogue, and then planned an online meeting with the spokesperson.
“I opened the meeting and had five people against me instead of one, including their highest lawyer,” said Van der Zwan.
“They only wanted to tell me ‘We don’t want you here anymore’,” Van der Zwan said. But a solution came through, related to the Pro Cycling Stats logos on the campervan.
With ASO asking Van der Zwan to cover the PCS branding, he’s had fun with his solution. The PCS logo consists of three squares with the letters ‘P’, ‘C’ and ‘S’ in each. Van der Zwan has covered each letter with the images of someone peeing, the sea and an ass. He plans to have another cover-up that French speakers can understand.
“It’s my bible”
Launched in 2013, Pro Cycling Stats has become an essential resource for many cycling journalists, commentators and professionals. It expects to hit 4 billion page views early next year.
“The speaker who introduces the riders and teams on the podium, he said to me ‘I’d be nothing anymore if there was no Pro Cycling Stats. It’s my bible',” said Van der Zwan.
The campervan has become a feature of pro races since Van der Zwan began visiting them in 2017. Anyone is welcome for a coffee in the van, he says.
“It became a cycling hub at the side of the road. We’re welcome everywhere,” said Van der Zwan, who counts the CEO of Cycling Flanders and UAE Team Emirates sports manager Matxin Joxean Fernandez among his guests.
British rider Oscar Onley told Cycling Weekly that he checked PCS after finishing fourth on stage four of this year’s Tour de France. Van der Zwan said many riders go straight to the website as soon as they get on the team bus after races, and team support staff use it during the racing, too.
“All the teams have VeloViewer and PCS live stats on,” said Van der Zwan, “and not the live stats of the Tour de France.”
The CEO of PCS suspects that this is part of the reason behind ASO contacting the stats website: “I think that’s what’s bothering them. Any attention we get isn’t going to their website, where there are adverts and merchandising.”
“They see now that we’re attracting a lot of people. If you go to the [Tour de France] press room and look at the computers of the people from the press, they all have a tab open with PCS live stats – and not with their own live stats,” added Van der Zwan.
“They’re really trying hard to do as much statistics as possible. It looks like they’re trying to compete with us.
“That’s what’s bothering them. We’re getting too popular, I think.”
“We’re getting so much attention”
The irony of ASO’s demands is that PCS has begun to receive a lot more attention, according to Van der Zwan.
“We’re getting 25 per cent more page views this Tour de France because we’re getting so much attention,” said Van der Zwan.
Commentators across the world have been remarking on the ASO and PCS face-off, including in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK on ITV, and Brazil.
“The Belgian commentators were talking about it. One of the commentators said ‘How can a company as big as the ASO be so small-minded?’,” said Van der Zwan.
The support PCS has from the cycling world means Van der Zwan is confident ASO won’t pursue legal action – and he says he doesn’t want a battle.
“I’m still open to conversation to find a better solution than this. This is not a win-win situation. It’s better for cycling if people see a tweet with two people shaking hands.”
BikeRadar has contacted ASO for comment.
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