{"id":205885,"date":"2026-07-21T07:24:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T07:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=205885"},"modified":"2026-07-21T07:24:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T07:24:49","slug":"tours-worst-road-graffiti-is-becoming-another-tours-best-billboard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/07\/21\/tours-worst-road-graffiti-is-becoming-another-tours-best-billboard\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour\u2019s Worst Road Graffiti Is Becoming Another Tour\u2019s Best Billboard"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are certain things you can expect to see during the Tour de France: doomed breakaways, sunflower fields, spectacular ch\u00e2teaux and, sooner or later, an aerial shot containing a crudely drawn piece of male anatomy. The last of those is not part of the official roadbook.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Hundreds of offensive drawings appear on the Tour route every year, leaving a specialist clean-up crew known as the \u201cEraser Men\u201d racing ahead of the peloton with paint rollers and whitewash. Their job is simple: cover the graffiti before the television helicopters find it.<\/p>\n

For the second year running, however, \u0160koda are giving the Eraser Men a more imaginative option. Instead of merely painting over the drawings, the crew can transform them into colourful artworks promoting the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.<\/p>\n

Yes, this is a campaign built around turning penis graffiti into publicity for women\u2019s cycling. And yes, it is considerably smarter than that sentence makes it sound.<\/p>\n

French illustrator Celine Dormeau and London-based artist Erin Aniker have created a collection of stencils designed specifically around the shapes commonly found on Tour roads. Once applied, the original graffiti becomes part of a bold new illustration carrying the message #WatchTheFemmes.<\/p>\n

The drawings are not so much erased as creatively domesticated. The significant development for 2026 is that the campaign is becoming permanent. Rather than producing a one-off collection for a single edition, \u0160koda is handing the reusable stencil toolkit over to the Eraser Men. Whenever another roadside masterpiece appears, they will have the option of turning it into an advertisement for the women\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

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Zobrazit p\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek na Instagramu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd \u0160koda Auto Official (@skodagram)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n