Tour de France to buy Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series..?

It was recently announced that the Competitor Group in the USA has put the hugely popular Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon and Marathon series up for sale. Competitor Group was formed in 2008 when Falconhead Capital, an equity fund firm, bought the Rock 'n' Roll series, other races and some media properties. In the last four years, Competitor Group has grown from 16 to 75 races, including some triathlons and non-US road races. In terms of races in the USA, this commercial operation is huge and they will be bringing a Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon to Dublin in August 2013.


A number of off-the-record running-industry sources are reporting the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon series will be sold to the owners of the world-famous Tour de France bicycle race. Several of the sources have referenced a column published a week ago at RunTex.com by Bob Wischnia, a former Runner’s World editor who now works for Mizuno.

The Tour de France is owned by the French company, Amaury Sports Organization, which also owns the Paris and Barcelona Marathons, as well as other bike races and L’equipe, the daily French-language sports newspaper. On its web site, the company says: “One of A.S.O.’s priority areas for growth is the organization of mass events open to the general public."