It is official – the 2019 Tour de France will start in Brussels and the Grand Depart will most probably include an opening road race stage which will go through both, Wallonne and Flanders in order to represent the Belgian unity.
According to a report published by Het Nieuwsblad, the second stage will be a team trial one. Full details about the 2019 Tour de France Grand Depart event are set to be released on January 16.
The famous Brussels Grand Depart was first created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Eddy Merckx’s first, overall victory. However, no one can say for sure whether he will be present at the event especially after a recent fall-out with ASO, the race organizer, over the Tour of Oman running.
Tour de France 2019 : rendez-vous à Bruxelles ??https://t.co/rTTe7E4LCT
Grand Depart 2019 in Brussels ??https://t.co/RGJWMPfyiu#TDF2019
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) May 30, 2017
So far, Brussels has hosted the Tour de France ten times and has welcomed the Grand Depart in 1958. Since the Vendée in France will host the start of the 2018 edition. This means, the current trend of hosting the Grand Depart in a foreign city every other year, is continuing to happen.
Boycotting the Grand Depart?
The 2019 Tour also marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of the famous, race leader’s yellow jersey. The one to hold the record of being 96 days in yellow belongs to Merckx. However, until now, no one can say for sure whether he will decide to be part of the Grand Depart or not. Chances are, he might decide to boycott the 2019 Brussels Grand Depart as well as the 50th anniversary celebrations and no one can do anything about it.
“I am disappointed with ASO. Extremely disappointed. The Tour of Oman will certainly take place in 2018, but it will be without me. I have nothing to do with it anymore,” Merckx told Het Laaste Nieuws
