Tour de France 2019: Grand Depart in Brussels

In less than one month, the Tour de France riders will start to head to Düsseldorf, for the Grand Départ which has not taken place in Germany since 1987 in Berlin. It will not be the only anniversary to be celebrated, because on the first post-war edition of Le Tour, in 1947, the race witnessed a stage outside the French borders (an event that only occurred in two towns before the Second World War, Metz and Geneve) when the pack headed to Brussels on the second day. Since then, the Belgian capital has welcomed the Grand Boucle ten times and ten stage finishes or half-stages have taken place there. Indeed, in 2019, for the centenary of the Yellow Jersey, Brussels will be hosting the Grand Départ as Eddy Merckx, the man with the most stage wins on the race, will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of his first victory.