Rotterdam and The Hague have formally applied for the Grand Départ of Tour de France in 2024 or 2025. Both cities handed the bid book to a delegation from the ASO organizer at Rotterdam City Hall on Thursday.

In the Citizens’ Hall in front of the City Hall, the mayor of the two cities, Ahmed Abu Talib of Rotterdam and Jean Van Zanen of The Hague, presented the plans to ASO President Christian Prudhum. He gladly recognized the eighty-page file. Rotterdam City Council Member Sven de Langen is satisfied with the bidding booklet that was presented to the French organization. “I’m really excited. We all know the Tour de France is magic.” Flash cycling.

My dream, my goal, my tour, Is the motto of the book of giving. Rotterdam wants to use the new Grand Départ to inspire its residents, give them a perspective in these difficult times and to give a boost to the economy and tourism. In short, it should be a tour for everyone. “The Tour de France is a wonderful metaphor for life. You have peaks, you have lows. Sometimes it goes on your face. You can easily turn that into a personal goal, as everyone also understands that the tour is a great example.”

Interest in women and youth bicycles
We work for the coveted Grand Départ in four stages. First, the Rotterdam Cycling on Tour school project will begin in September, where first graders can experience just how fun cycling can be. The event will be cyclosportive in 2022 Latipe de Tour Held at Maasstad. The city also wanted to create an international women’s race, which should be called the Rotterdam Tour. This plan aligns with the ambition to bring the new Tour Féminin as well.

Sports Advisor Sven de Langen – Photo: Cor Vos

The tour should then begin in Rotterdam in 2024 or 2025. The Bid Book suggests three days of race: as previously reported, an introduction via Rotterdam, a journey through the Rotterdam-The Hague metropolitan area with completion in The Hague, and a stage from Rotterdam to Valkenburg. De Langen: “We encountered Limburg at different times in our conversations with the ASO. Limburg is a great county for cycling and it also has a hike in elevation, so you can create three different stages with three different yellow jersey wearers.”

“So I think it’s a very logical step to tie it up like this: first the introduction, then the flat run and then the hill stage. It would be strange if Matthew van der Bolle didn’t wear the yellow shirt on the third day,” he says with a wink.

Perfect filtration
Tour de France director Christian Proudhomme was impressed with the plans. On Flash cycling He says: “I am delighted that French cities have taken the foreign cities, especially Dutch cities, as an example. For us, this is an ideal candidate. You want to organize the largest bike race in the world, you want to organize this in solidarity, you want not only to portray the city, but also to touch people in their daily lives. You want to make sure you cycle young and old often. “

“It is not only the Grand Départ of the Tour, but it is part of a larger plan to develop the city and the region. This is a great added value for us. So it is a very good candidacy, and it is also supported by people we trust, such as Mayor of Rotterdam Abu Talib and Jean Van Zanen, “Former mayor of Utrecht and mayor of The Hague now. I don’t know what the future will hold, but it is a very beautiful file. It is worn by people we appreciate and respect.”

Tourist Director Christian Brodhomme – Photo: Cor Vos

He adds that Prudhum has always liked to come to Rotterdam. “The last time I was here, it was in 2008, 2009, 2010 and also in the years that followed with World Ports Classic, I saw work being done on new buildings. Now I haven’t been to town in five years, so I really watched the city grow skyward. . I’ve also seen impressive bike changes. Here in front of City Hall, on such an important road (Coolsingel, editor), there is now a big bike path. It used to be a road, and now it’s for cyclists. “

“Maybe this is really impressive to you Dutch, but it is more than that to us as French. Because ten years ago I was already wondering what the city could do for cyclists. However, everything has changed since then. My attention really, which was really new to me, was the 45% increase in bike use between 2010, during the start of the tour in Rotterdam, and today, “he says now, a 60-year-old Parisian.

Rotterdam is not the only city interested in the Grand Départs for 2024 and 2025; Tour head Prudhomme said the UK and Italy where the tour never started and French cities also want to win the three-week tour.

A lot of confidence
Nevertheless, according to de Langen, the book of giving was received by the French delegation from Rotterdam and The Hague “with great enthusiasm.” “I have so much confidence in the Grand Debart victory. What can Rotterdam offer more than other potential candidates? We have a road to the Grand Départ, which will start after the summer, and with which we will inspire so many people that no city or region in all of Europe can match us.”

The Grand Départ of the tour will be in Brest this year, next year in Copenhagen, Denmark and in 2023 in Bilbao, Spain.