The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO and also A.S.O.) is a private company, founded in 1992, that is part of the privately-owned French media group Éditions Philippe Amaury (EPA). ASO organises the Tour de France and other cycling races, as well as golf, running, sailing and off-road motorsport events over 250 days of competition per year, with 90 events in 30 countries. The president of ASO is Jean-Etienne Amaury, the son of Philippe Amaury and Marie-Odile Amaury, and grandson of EPA founder, Émilien Amaury.
Cycling
The Tour de France was instituted by the newspaper L'Auto in 1903. The paper was closed after World War II because of its links with the occupying Germans and a new paper, L'Équipe, took over. L'Équipe organised the Tour and in 1965 the newspaper was acquired by Émilien Amaury. L'Équipe organised the race until it was taken over by its parent company, ASO. , ASO claimed to be the world leader in bicycle race organisation with 132 days of competition each year.
Current
ASO organises the following cycling events:
UCI World Tour
Critérium du Dauphiné
Eschborn–Frankfurt
La Flèche Wallonne
Liège–Bastogne–Liège
Paris–Nice
Paris–Roubaix
Tour de France
Volta a Catalunya
Vuelta a España (alongside Unipublic)