A German bid to host the 2029 or 2030 Tour de France in eastern Germany is becoming more and more concrete. As the Deutsche Presse-Agentur has learned from the "Grand Départ" association, the federal capital Berlin is now officially part of the team alongside the federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia as well as the Federal Republic of Germany. The association has received a letter to this effect from Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner.
By including Berlin, the organizers are following a recommendation from Tour boss Christian Prudhomme. He had recently pointed out that the bid was also linked to the political signal of reunification. "For me as a Frenchman and for many other Europeans, this event is primarily linked to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. That would be a very strong signal for me: Berlin 2029 and the fall of the Wall in 1989," said Prudhomme in a "Sportschau" interview.
