The book was released worldwide in more than 20 languages on 19 October 2017 with an initial print run of 5 million copies.

Julius Caesar endorses the race but insists that a Roman must win for the sake of unity across the Italic Peninsula.

Obelix then buys a sports chariot on credit, quits his menhir business and joins the trans-Italic race, accompanied by Asterix and Dogmatix.

There are several other teams, including a Belgian named Outinthastix and his compatriot, two competitors who resemble Hells Angels, two Goths in a wolf-motif chariot, as well as Helvetians, Ligurians, Etruscans, and Calabrians.

[7] Comics Review said the book is "furiously funny and hilariously jam-packed with timeless jibes and cracking contemporary swipes"[8] The book received renewed media attention in 2020 amid the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) pandemic because the charioteer favored to win the race goes by the name Coronavirus[9] and wears a face mask.