November 23, 2007 – Monaco will be the starting point of the 2009 Tour de France as announced yesterday by event organizer, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). An official presentation and details of the start will take place in Monaco on December 14 at the Grimaldi Forum with Monaco’s Prince Albert II, Senior Minister Jean-Paul Proust, ASO’s president Patrice Clerc and TdF director, Christian Prudhomme.

The 2007 TdF started in London, England and the 2008 edition will begin in Brittany, in western France. This will be the first start in Monaco, an independent principality along the Mediterranean coast.