Tour de France 2021 to begin in Brittany after Denmark postponement

Team Ineos rider Egan Bernal of Colombia, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, in action in the peloton during the 128-km Stage 21 from Rambouillet to Paris Champs-Elysees on July 28, 2019.
Team Ineos rider Egan Bernal of Colombia, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, in action in the peloton during the 128-km Stage 21 from Rambouillet to Paris Champs-Elysees on July 28, 2019.
Image: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

The 2021 Tour de France will start in Brittany after Copenhagen's staging of the 'Grand Depart' was pushed back by a year due to a potential clash with soccer's postponed European Championship, race organisers.

Brittany will also host the first four full stages of the race.

"Delighted to announce with Christian Prudhomme that we will start in Brest, pass through Finistere, Cotes d'Armor, Morbihan and Ille-et-Vilaine. It will be a great celebration and a boost for the economy," said the region's president Loig Chesnais-Girard.

The start of next year's Tour was brought forward by six days to avoid clashing with the men's road race at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics.

The new June 26 start date, however, created a clash for Denmark with the European Championship, which runs from June 11-July 11.

Denmark is due to host three group matches as well as a last-16 match, all taking place at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen in June.

The Danish start to the Tour will be held from July 1-3, 2022.

- Reuters

 

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