Sport has many benefits. Not only on a health level, but also on an emotional and mental level. Decathlon’s purpose is to make sport and its benefits accessible to all. Even when it seems impossible.

During the lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, we all felt a bit like prisoners. In the spring of 2021, Decathlon wanted to make “freedom” its central theme.

We wanted an activation that demonstrated how sport can liberate people and fits in the company’s vision of making sport accessible.

In a maximum security prison in Oudenaarde, Belgium, we launched the first eCycling team for prisoners. Decathlon provided them with clothes and equipment (bikes, trainers, …) to cycle on Zwift, a virtual world where 3 million cyclists race and ride together. Enabling them to ride with people from the outside world for the first time. As anonymous athletes instead of being labeled a prisoner or outcast. The project is ongoing, permanently reconnecting them with society from behind bars. In a podcast, we documented how riding online with others changed their life. In an epic race streamed live on Facebook by Decathlon, they even competed with a team of judges, lawyers, prison guards and the Minister of Justice.

We wanted regular sporters to have an emotional connection with the Decathlon brand.

Instead of telling people sport changes lives, we actually changed the life of six people through sport. And told the world about it.

In Oudenaarde, the heart of international cycling, we used the Zwift platform, allowing six prisoners to ride online with other cyclists for the very first time. In an environment that only judged them on their performance on the bike, not on their past.

To show the outside world how sport changes lives, we created multiple pr moments. In march: we launched the team with an emotional launch film where the prisoners tell about their connection to cycling. In September, we broadcast their ultimate race live on Facebook.

Between march and september let them tell their side of the story in a podcast, showing how the project changed their lives.

Special permission was given by the Federal department of Justice and Oudenaarde prison, to allow the prisoners to go online for the first time in history.

Decathlon provided the equipment needed to ride on Zwift. To guarantee anonymity the prisoners’ Zwift avatars were named John Doe 1-6, the term for a defendant who remains anonymous in legal dossiers. The faces and identity of the prisoners were not shown in any way.

The Breakaway was launched on march 31, 2021. From that moment, the prisoners started training and participating in races, preparing for a challenge on September 14, 2021: a race against a team of lawyers, prison guards, judges and the Minister of Justice.

Between march and september, a podcast documented how the project changed their lives.

The race was streamed live on Decathlon’s Facebook channel in a broadcast with commentary by the country’s most famous cycling commentator, Renaat Schotte.

The Breakaway project showed the real power of a virtual sport. It was discussed by all mainstream media in Belgium, and the international cycling press. In combination with the social reach by Decathlon, this reached over 15 million people and earned around 1.3 million in free media attention.

In may, John McAvoy, ex-bankrobber and now an acclaimed pro triathlete, organized an official group ride on Zwift, creating a social event with hundreds of cyclists riding with the prisoners.

After racing them live on Facebook on September 14, the Minister of Justice decided to expand the Breakaway project to all Belgian prisons. In collaboration with Decathlon, all prisons will be equipped with eCycling in the coming years.