G7 Summit: Road bikes as gifts for Trump, Merz, Meloni and other heads of state

​At the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, the heads of state and government of the seven leading industrialised nations, as well as senior representatives of the European Union, came together. French President Emmanuel Macron surprised the seven heads of state with a special gift: personalised road bikes from the French manufacturer Look. All official representatives received a road bike painted in their country’s national colours. Donald Trump (President, United States), Friedrich Merz (Chancellor, Germany), Emmanuel Macron (President, France), Keir Starmer (Prime Minister, United Kingdom), Giorgia Meloni (President of the Council of Ministers, Italy), Mark Carney (Prime Minister, Canada) and Sanae Takaichi (Prime Minister, Japan) were each presented with a bike.

​2027 UCI Cycling World Championships

The initiative is intended to promote the 2027 UCI Cycling World Championships, which will take place in France. UCI President David Lappartient was also present at the summit and attended the handover of the bikes. The UCI Cycling World Championships will take place from 24 August to 5 September 2027 in the Haute-Savoie department in France. The event will bring together 20 UCI World Championships across 12 venues, with around 10,000 athletes (elite and amateur) representing 130 nations. They will compete for 281 UCI world titles.

Road bike for Trump & Co

The road bikes for Trump, Merz, Meloni and co. are each painted in their respective national colours and will no doubt soon end up in the heads of state’s storage rooms. It is doubtful whether they will actually use their new bikes. Normally, officials simply accept the gifts – but they do not become their private property. Perhaps one or two of these road bikes will, however, adorn a government building as an exhibit. In Germany, the use of such gifts is strictly regulated. State gifts received by the Federal Chancellor generally become the property of the Federal Republic of Germany. They are regarded as gifts to the office and not to the individual. Consequently, the following options apply:

• Archiving and display: Many gifts are catalogued and stored in the Chancellery’s evidence rooms.
• Private purchase: If the Federal Chancellor wishes to keep an expensive gift for himself, he must buy it from the Federal Republic at its appraised value.
• Public auction: Unwanted gifts are auctioned off online via VEBEG, the state-owned asset disposal agency. The proceeds go directly into the state coffers. So it could well be that a Look road bike will soon be put up for auction.

Donald Trump and cycling

However, the gift is a reminder of an American connection to cycling. In 1989, Donald Trump founded the Tour de Trump, a 10-day stage race. His grandly proclaimed aim was to create an American Tour de France. Initially, he enticed participants with substantial prize money, but the idea had failed after just two years. Due to financial problems, Trump withdrew from the project. The race continued under a different name until 1996, before it was finally discontinued.