Grand Départ in the East? Tour Director Prudhomme "Open to the Idea"

Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, remains open to the possibility of the 2029 Tour de France starting in eastern Germany. “I am very open to this German bid,” he told the *Frankfurter Rundschau*. The 113th Tour de France begins Saturday in Barcelona.

The bid by the “Grand Départ Allemagne” association—a member of the German Cycling Federation—has historical significance: Forty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the organizers plan for the start of the world’s largest cycling race to serve as a symbol of a united Europe. With stages in Berlin, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia, the bid aims to honor East Germany’s role in reunification.

“A bid that includes Berlin is a great bid for the 40th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall,” said Prudhomme. “If the Tour can find a place among events that extend far beyond it—events that have made history, such as November 9, 1989—then that means something to me,” he continued. The fall of the Berlin Wall, he said, is a very powerful symbol of a united Europe. “That is very important in our time. And for me, Europe begins with Franco-German friendship,” he added.