Germany plans to host the start of the Tour de France in the eastern part of the country in 2030.
“It should be a Big Bang for the region,” said Rudolf Scharping, President of the German Cycling Federation, during the announcement in Leipzig on Tuesday.
The newly established organisation “Grand Depart Allemagne” will be responsible for developing the project.
The tentative plan is for the first stage, marking the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Germany, to occur between Dresden and Gera, following part of the old Peace Race route which traversed East Germany.
The second stage is planned as a time trial between Halle and Leipzig, while the third and final stage will run from Erfurt to Magdeburg.
The project is expected to cost €20 million but anticipates generating €150 to €200 million in tourism-related revenues. The organisers plan to fund the event through companies and sponsors to avoid burdening taxpayers.
Football club RB Leipzig, whose majority shareholder Red Bull also sponsors a professional cycling team, is being considered for support.
Grand Depart Allemagne emphasised that the plans have the backing of the prime ministers of the three federal states: Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia.
The next step is to present the project to the Tour organisation Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), with initial talks scheduled for summer.
Scharping expressed confidence, citing ASO’s role in organising the Tour of Germany (Pro Series) and Germany’s two most important one-day races, Eschborn-Frankfurt and Cyclassics Hamburg (both WorldTour events).
The Tour de France has started in Germany four times: in 1965 in Cologne, in 1980 in Frankfurt, in 1987 in West Berlin, and in 2017 in Düsseldorf.
