Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has further fueled hopes that the world’s largest cycling race will start in eastern Germany in 2029. “The project presented to us is undoubtedly an enticing proposal that we will examine with the utmost care,” said the 65-year-old Frenchman in Berlin during the official submission of the bid by the German Cycling Federation and the “Grand Départ Allemagne” association.
Prudhomme particularly emphasized the historical significance of a Grand Départ in Berlin, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia, 40 years after the Peaceful Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall. “This is such an important anniversary for the Germans. But also for all of Europe and beyond, for all people who believe in freedom,” he said in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
Together with the participating federal states of Berlin, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia, and with the support of the federal government, the goal is to send “a European message of freedom, solidarity, and Franco-German friendship,” according to German Cycling and “Grand Départ Allemagne.”
