- 2019 Tour de France will be will be underway from 06 July to 28 July
- The start (Grand Départ) of the 2019 Tour will be in Brussels / Belgium
- Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas are the 2019 Tour favorites
- Broadcasters: ITV4 / S4C / Eurosport Player (UK) and ARD / ZDF / Eurosport (Germany)
Grand Départ in the city of Brussels
An international peleton of world-class bikers embark on the road to Tour de France glory when the 106th edition of the Tour de France kicks off in Brussels this year on Saturday, July 6, 2019. In honour of the 50th anniversary of the first Tour de France win of Eddy Merckx the Tour 2019 will start in the capital of Belgium. Participants in the Grand Boucle have ridden through the streets of Belgium 47 times, first visiting the capital city in 1947. The last time the Tour passed through Brussels was in 2010.
After the start in Brussels the route of the 2019 Tour de France will go through the eastern half of France via Vosges and Massif Central to the Pyrenees. The decisive days rise in the Alps. The route includes 5 mountain arrivals (La Planche des Belles Filles, Tourmalet, Foix Prat d’Albis, Tignes, Val Thorens), 2 more mountain stages, one team time trial, one individual time trial (both 27 kilometers long), 5 hilly stages and 7 flat stages.The race concludes a little over three weeks after setting off from Brussels with the largely processional 21st stage from Rambouillet to Paris (Champs-Élysées) on Sunday July 28.
Who will wear the yellow jersey in Paris?
Last year’s edition of the Tour was won by Great Britain’s Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) ahead of Dutchman Tom Dumoulin and Thomas’ team-mate and four-time winner, Chris Froome. Thomas admits in an interview with The Telegraph that he was “definitely coming back slowly” to Grand Tour winning form. The 33-year-old began his 2019 season finishing 44th in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, which he concedes reflects the fact he was still overweight after the off season.
This year will see two Brits also fighting the ticking of their career clocks, as they try their hardest to put themselves into the history books. Froome is aiming to join the five Tours win club and Mark Cavendish is vying to take four more sprint wins to equal the record held by Merckx.
What teams will ride the Tour de France?
Each of the 18 WorldTour teams make up the top-flight of professional cycling. In addition to the WorldTour teams, race organisers ASO handed wildcard spots to Arkéa-Samsic, Cofidis Solutions Crédits, Total-Direct Énergie and Wanty-Groupe Gobert.
Where to watch the 2019 Tour de France live on TV?
UK: Terrestrial channels ITV and S4C will be broadcasting the action from France and Belgium live. Eurosport Player subscribers can also watch the Tour de France 2019 live. Amazon Prime subscribers can sign-up to Eurosport Player through Amazon Channels for £6.99 per month (with a 7-day free trial). Amazon Prime is £7.99 per month but can be accessed with a 30-day free trial.
Germany: Once more clycling fans in Germany can watch the Tour de France live on Free TV via ARD and ZDF. Furthermore Eurosport will cover every single stage on German Free TV. You can find the satellite information for all channels on Sporteventz.com!