June 18, 2007 – The 2009 Tour de France will kick off in Monaco reports AFP today, citing the Parisien. The Parisien is a daily newspaper owned by the Amaury Group which also organizes the TdF. The first stage of the 2009 TdF will reportedly be a TT of 15.2km in the independent principality along the French Mediterranean shoreline.

The 2007 TdF will kick off in London, England on July 7 while the 2008 event is scheduled to begin in Brest, France.

According to a recent interview with TdF director, Christian Prudhomme, by www.cyclismag.com, two of the next five TdFs will start in France. Other contenders for future venues include Rotterdam (Netherlands), Utrecht (Netherlands), Liege (Belgium), Budapest (Hungary), Düsseldorf (Germany), Lugano (Switzerland), Basque country (north-western Spain), Estonia and Qatar.