What do school teachers and Tour de France chiefs have in common? A seemingly never-ending battle with penis graffiti, of course. Well, in a helpful development one of the race’s major partners Škoda has come up with an ingenious solution to tackle immature road paintings and promote the Tour de France Femmes at the same time.

It’s one of the great traditions of the Tour de France, the mountain stages decorated with kilometre after kilometre of messages and pictures scribbled or painted onto the tarmac. Often it’s just a rider’s name, sometimes a nod to somebody back at home watching on TV and, in the case of the more easily amused roadside graffiti artist, there’s also an occasional phallic masterpiece.

Naturally, the Tour suits at ASO aren’t too keen to have the pretty TV pictures ruined by the eyesore of a gigantic chalk cock and balls, so each stage’s route is meticulously scanned and, if necessary, dealt with to ensure nobody’s afternoon viewing is ruined by such a monstrosity.

Anyway, this is where Škoda, creative agency FCB London, feminist French illustrator Celine Dormeau and London-based illustrator Erin Aniker come in. They hit the Alps for stage 19 of the Tour de France to turn some of the penises scribbled on the climbs into eye-catching adverts for the women’s race, the Tour de France Femmes which is playing out this week. Here’s one of the creatively corrected cocks making an appearance as Lenny Martinez chased KOM points on the Col du Pré, the #WatchTheFemes message clear to see.

 Commenting on the work, Škoda’s head of marketing Meredith Kelly said: “Having started our journey in 1895 as a bicycle manufacturer, cycling is in our DNA. And this year, as we celebrate our 130th year, it’s especially meaningful to support the Tour, and see our fourth consecutive year as the main official partner of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, the world’s most prestigious women’s cycling race.

Škoda Tour de France Femmes campaign
Škoda Tour de France Femmes campaign (Image Credit: Škoda/FCB London)

“With this bold visual statement, we’re turning an unwanted problem into a powerful opportunity to promote women’s cycling — and what better platform to do so than by infiltrating the 3.5 billion-strong viewership of the Tour de France, to encourage cycling fans of all genders to watch the women’s race.”

FCB London’s chief creative officer Owen Lee added: “When we heard about the penis graffiti that is painted on the course, we saw it as an opportunity to do something bold and disruptive to motivate the Tour’s global audience to sit up and take notice of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.

“By turning the penises into a conversation starter, we’re not only helping the organisers out, but celebrating cycling and getting more people to #WatchTheFemmes.”

Škoda Tour de France Femmes campaign
Škoda Tour de France Femmes campaign (Image Credit: Škoda/FCB London)

Bizarrely, it’s not the first time that penis graffiti at a bike race has made headlines. Back in 2018, locals were rudely awakened in Ilfracombe the morning after the Tour of Britain passed through their town, as it emerged that a bike created from recycled materials on a hillside nearby had been covertly transformed into a giant phallus.

Credit - Callum Stephenson.JPG
Credit - Callum Stephenson (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

> Cocky Devon pranksters erect giant penis to replace Tour of Britain bike

Councils up and down the UK have also been terrorised by pissed off locals with a penchant for penis-painting pothole protests. It really does make you proud to be British…

Edinburgh pothole 1 (picture courtesy Stephan Matthiesen)
Edinburgh pothole 1 (picture courtesy Stephan Matthiesen) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)