The Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) is set to take over the Dauphiné Libéré, the last independent French race. ASO is mostly known for organizing the Tour de France, but has taken over several other races in the past years.
The takeover proceeding was reported by Spanish paper El Pais, which cited sources familiar with the negotiations. ASO also organizes Paris-Nice, Paris-Roubaix, Paris-Tours, the Critérium International, the Tour de l'Avenir and the Belgian Classics Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Also part of the list are the Tour of Qatar (both men and women), some minor French races and the l'Etape du Tour, which is an event open to recreational cyclists every year to ride the entire stage of a Tour (on a different day than the actual stage, obviously).
The Dauphiné Libéré is a very important warm-up race for the Tour de France and several key riders, including Lance Armstrong, are expected to race it. The 2010 edition will have a finish on top of Alpe d'Huez.
The Dauphiné Libéré is a regional French newspaper that has been organizing the race since its beginning in 1947. The paper was acquired by a group of editors called L'Est Republicain last year.
ASO and RCS (the Italian organizer of races such as the Giro d'Italia, Milano-Sanremo and Tirreno-Adriatico) hold rights to many of the UCI races, which makes the International Cycling Union a weaker governing body when it comes to race regulations.