Tim Maloney, European Editor
It's official: the eastern French city of Strasbourg, the capital of the Alsace region, will host the Grand Départ of the 2006 Tour de France. Jean-Marie Leblanc, Tour director and Christian Prudhomme, his heir apparent, announced an agreement with Ms. Fabienne Keller, mayor of Strasbourg. Home of the European Parliament, Strasbourg, which means "the town of roads" in German, will welcome the Tour de France prologue on July 1, 2006. Strasbourg has already hosted the Tour de France 22 times, but the only time the Alsatian capital has hosted the Tour start was in 1953, the year of the first win of legendary French racer Louison Bobet. The '06 Tour's prologue will be a 7.5km flat and rolling course entirely in the city.
