Every time Tour de France started abroad

Defining historical events of the 20th century often left  their marks on road cycling history. Just think about, for istance, the impact of World War 1 on the mythology of some famous races, like Paris-Roubaix. The born of the famous phase of “Hell of the North” is a quite well known story among cycling fans. … Read more

Although the first ever Italian Grand Depart of Tour de France will take place in 2024, the race visited Italy for plenty of times, usually during mountain stages in the Alps. Turin is one of the most visited Italian cities by Tour de France.  In 1956, peloton made a trip to the place in 17th … Read more

Tour de France 2024 will start in Florence (Italy). Although the race visited neigbour countries before the First World War already, the tradition of starting the first stage of Tour de France abroad dated back to 1954  only, when the Grand Départ took place in Amsterdam (Netherland) One of the most uniqe occasions was the … Read more

Although Tour de France visited neighbour contries already during the early years of its history frequently, the first international start (grand depart) of the race happened only in 1954. Amsterdam had the privilege to host the start of the event. The 216 km long first stage of Tour de France 1954 between Amsterdam and Brasshaat was … Read more