Rotterdam is to stage the start of the 2010 Tour de France cycle race, the organisers said on Thursday.

The port city beat Utrecht, which had also applied as the location for the start the 97th edition of the 3,500 km race. The Tour last started in the Netherlands in 1996, from the southern city of Den Bosch.
The Tour organisers said they had never before ‘been confronted with the dilemma of having to choose between two cities – Rotterdam and Utrecht – whose applications were both of a very high level.’
‘Each of them had the trumps to welcome a wonderful Grand Depart. Therefore we sincerely hope that Utrecht will once again apply as a candidate for a future Tour,’ the organisers said in a statement.
Rotterdam was finally chosen because its geographical situation fitted in with the route planned for the 2010 Tour which starts on July 3, 2010.
‘It is really good news that Holland has been able to attract such a major event,’ said Reineke Boot, director of sports marketing and events bureau Outfield.
‘It is especially important for Rotterdam which has put a great deal of effort into promoting and supporting top-level sport.’
The 2009 Tour de France starts in Monaco on July 4.