2019 Tour de France to start in Brussels, Belgium
Grand Depart of 105th edition celebrates Eddy Merckx and yellow jersey
On July 1, Canada’s 150th anniversary, the 22nd foreign kick-off of a Tour de France will happen in Dusseldorf, Germany. On Tuesday, the ASO organizers of the Tour announced that the 2019 Grand Depart will be Brussels, Belgium, the fifth time Belgium has hosted the first stage. Brussels held the first Belgian Grand Depart in 1958 and the nation last launched La Grande Boucle in 2012.
The day in Brussels is to celebrate both the 50th anniversary of the first of five Tour de France wins for the greatest cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx, and the 100th anniversary of the yellow jersey. In his career Merckx wore the yellow jersey for a record 96-days, winning the Tour in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1974 while earning 34 stage triumphs. He also took five pink jerseys in the Giro d’Italia and one Vuelta a España title.
? 1919 – 2019 ? le maillot jaune fêtera ses 100 ans / the yellow jersey will celebrate its 100th birthday #TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/sZku9VLTvZ
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) May 30, 2017
Earlier this year, the ASO confirmed that the 2018 Grand Depart of the 105th edition would be on the Passage du Gois, a four-kilometre causeway in Vendée on the Atlantic Coast. It last served as the opening stage in 2011. In 1999, it was the scene of tremendous drama when a huge crash caused several pre-race favourites to lose 6 minutes to their rivals, Lance Armstrong excluded.
