Murdoch Money for British Tour Team Provokes Envy in France

Rupert Murdoch’s money is backing a U.K. cycling team at the Tour de France as the British try to end a winless streak that goes back more than a century.

Team Sky’s sponsors, led by British Sky Broadcasting Plc and Murdoch’s News Corp., see a marketing benefit during the current cycling boom for Britain, which won eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games. Its superior financial clout is making the French envious, according to Daniel Malbranque, general secretary of the international riders’ union. A Frenchman hasn’t won the Tour since Bernard Hinault in 1985.