Australian cyclists are calling for an end to fossil fuel sponsorship of the Tour Down Under, citing the contradiction between racing in extreme heat and being sponsored by a company contributing to climate change. The race, which begins on 16 January, has been sponsored by oil and gas company Santos since 2010, with the contract recently renewed until 2028.
Olympic cyclist Maeve Plouffe, who has degrees in law and marine biology, says racing in extreme heat has become standard. She trains in a heat chamber at the South Australian Sports Institute, where temperatures reach up to 40C. 'Racing in extreme heat is like playing chicken with your environment,' she said. Plouffe did not directly criticise Santos but said the next three years give organisers time to find a different sponsor.
Former national champion Cyrus Monk described the Santos sponsorship as 'embarrassing'. 'I’d love to see another sponsor to be able to step in,' he said, suggesting a renewable energy company like the sponsor of Belgium’s Renewi Tour. Former national road champion Brodie Chapman agreed, saying sponsorships should reflect 'the values of the modern world, the Australian people, the natural world and athletes'.
A spokesperson for the Tour Down Under defended Santos as a 'valued naming rights partner', stating that without their support the race could not be delivered. The spokesperson highlighted Santos’s role in South Australia’s renewable energy investment and its carbon capture and storage project at Moomba. However, analysis shows the Moomba project has captured only 4.6% of Santos’s total corporate emissions, and Santos recently received approval for the Barossa gas development, considered one of the dirtiest in the country.
Neither Santos nor race organisers have disclosed the value of the sponsorship or the South Australian government’s contribution. Matt Rendell, a former Tour de France commentator working with the Badvertising campaign, noted that the economics of cycling have made the sport reliant on such sponsorships, but said change is needed.
