The Czech capital Prague has officially applied to host the Grand Départ of the Tour de France. Tour Director Christian Prudhomme travelled to the Czech Republic last week to accept the bid in person. A Czech delegation presented the ASO Director with the plan to organise three stages in the Central European country. The Grand Départ is to take place in the capital city of Prague. The aim is to realise a Tour start in the Czech Republic in 2029 or later. Car manufacturer Škoda is one of the driving forces behind the bid. "It's a very good bid," said Prudhomme according to Czech media. "Prague is a beautiful city and the Czech Republic knows how to organise big events. We are examining this bid carefully."
International competition for the start of the tour
The starting locations for the Tour de France in the coming years have already been decided or are at an advanced stage of planning. Last season, the Tour de France started in Lille in the north of France. Next year, the race will start in Barcelona, and the Grand Départ is planned for Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2027. After that, it is still unclear where the Tour de France will kick off. Luxembourg is bidding for 2028, although several French regions are reportedly against three consecutive foreign starts. For the 2029 Grand Départ, Prague has a competitor in Slovenia, which submitted a plan last summer to start in Ljubljana. The decision as to which country wins the bid will be made by the Tour organisation ASO, which will take various factors such as infrastructure, financial aspects and sporting appeal into account.
Tradition of foreign tour starts
The tradition of starting the Tour de France outside France dates back to 1954, when Amsterdam in the Netherlands organised the first foreign Grand Départ. Since then, the Tour has started in numerous European countries, including Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Ireland, Switzerland, Monaco and Denmark. This international focus has helped to increase the popularity of the race worldwide and open up new markets. In recent years, the ASO has increasingly focussed on foreign entries, which also has economic reasons: cities and regions outside France are often prepared to invest considerable sums to host the prestigious race. The entry fees are now in the double-digit million range. For the Czech Republic, it would be the first time that the Tour de France has been held in the country, which would represent a historic milestone for Czech cycling.
Leon Weidner
Working student
