Dutch organisers look to avoid conflict with possible Dutch quarter-final game
The 2010 Tour de France prologue will take place at a time which avoids a potential conflict with a Dutch World Cup game. (Image credit: Sirotti)
The prologue of the 2010 Tour de France in Rotterdam is being scheduled around the fourth quarter-final game of the football World Cup tournament in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Netherlands may play in that game, and Netherlands race organisers wish to avoid a conflict.
The city of Rotterdam announced Monday that the prologue on Saturday, July 3, would start at 4:30 p.m., and run until approximately 8:00 p.m. The football game is scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m., Dutch time.
The prologue will run 8km through Rotterdam, the second-largest city in the Netherlands. Stage one the next day runs 224 km from Rotterdam to Brussels, starting at 11:50 a.m., with the official start being 20 minutes later at the Erasmus Bridge.
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