ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — The opening stage of the 2010 Tour de France will start with a 9-kilometer time trial in Rotterdam, returning to the Netherlands for the first time in 14 years.
The Netherlands will host cycling’s premier event for the fifth time, race chief Christian Prudhomme announced Thursday.
The first stage will send cyclists through the streets and across three bridges in Rotterdam on July 3. They’ll travel through the city on July 4 before heading west and south along the low-lying and wind-swept coastal landscape of Zeeland province toward Belgium.
More details of the 2010 route will be released in October.
The 2009 race starts in the wealthy principality of Monaco on the Mediterranean Sea and all eyes will be on Lance Armstrong, the seven-time champion returning to the grueling event for the first time since his last victory in 2005.
Joop Zoetemelk, the 1980 Tour champion and one of only two Dutchmen to have won the race, said headwinds would likely hit all riders in the second stage.
“If there’s wind, there’s wind for everybody,” Zoetemelk said. “I never found it too much of a problem. You just have to keep riding.”
Prudhomme said interest in staging the opening of the three-week race has soared since London hosted the event in 2007. And he would not rule out the race starting outside Europe.
Bids to host a first stage have come from Hungary and Qatar, while Scotland, Canada and Japan also inquired about the possibility, Prudhomme told The Associated Press.
Still, he said it is too early to say if the race would go intercontinental.
“I don’t know, but 20 years ago it would have been impossible to have the start in London and the start in London was really, really impressive and unforgettable for us,” he said.
“We can’t say never. We don’t know. It depends on means of communication — how can we go from one point to another point? The Tour de France is universal.”
Prudhomme said he could not assess Armstrong’s chances next month in his first comeback race after three years in retirement. He will compete in the Tour Down Under in Australia on Jan. 20-25.
“We have to wait. He is not a rider like other riders,” Prudhomme said. “Some champions succeeded in winning again after a retreat like Michael Jordan. Others didn’t succeed, like Bjorn Borg.”
Prudhomme said he was sure that when the Texan lines up with the Astana team, he will strive for success.
“If he wants to be at the start, he has to be in the first positions, perhaps in the first position,” he said.
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