The France Televisions group has recorded a "historic record" of viewers on the Tour de France this year, he announced.
About 42.4 million people watched the cycling competition for at least one minute.
Afternoon broadcasts reached their highest level since 2017.
A record number of viewers followed the Tour de France on the antennas of France Televisions, the public group announced on Monday.
According to a statement, 42.4 million people watched the Tour on the group's channels for at least one minute.
This is a "historical record", underlines the public company.
Last year, when the Tour started at the end of August due to the Covid-19 epidemic, this total rose to 39.6 million people.
The well-attended flagship stage of July 14
This translates into improving scores for most of the group's programs related to the Tour.
In particular, afternoon broadcasts on France 2 attracted an average of 3.8 million viewers, the highest level since 2017, and garnered an audience share (PDA) of 39.4%, a peak since 2011.
The flagship stage of July 14 was the most watched since 2013, adds the group, with 5.9 million viewers on average and a peak of nearly 8 million.
The audience is also up for the afternoons on France 3 with 2.4 million viewers (against 2.2 million in 2020) and a PDA of 21.6%.
Note that on the two channels, the PDA among young people aged 15 to 24 has reached peaks for at least 15 years, still according to France Televisions.