Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad is confident London has secured the prologue and first stage of the 2007 Tour de France. ASO, the event organiser, had been holding back the decision so as not to be seen favouring London over Paris in the bid for the Olympics in 2012, said the paper.

London to get Tour de France start in 2007?

With London now confirmed as the city to host the 2012 Olympics, Het Nieuwsblad said ASO will next week make an announcement about a Tour de France start for the British capital.

However, Jeremy Whittle editor of Procycling magazine said: "The rivalry between Paris and London is said by some in the Tour convoy to have become so intense that, in the event of an Olympic bid victory by the British capital, a visit from the Tour so soon after the award of the Games would be seen to be rubbing salt into French wounds."

http://www.sportwereld.be/…/Detail.aspx?articleID=GT1G6EL7

Spotter: cyclingnews.com

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