While Luxembourg has already launched, Reims and the Grand Est region formalized this Monday their candidacy to organize the Grand Départ of the Tour de France in 2028.
The Grand Départs of the Tour de France abroad are not inevitable. While Barcelona will host the event in 2026 including a team time trial, Edinburgh and Great Britain will take over from 2027. If the next hosts of the first stages of the Grande Boucle are not known, many countries have already expressed their desire to organize such an event on their soil. Thus, Prague and the Czech Republic are already in the running for 2029, as is Slovenia, whose project could be postponed to 2031. As for the 2028 edition of the Tour de France, the dates of which will be disrupted by the holding of the Summer Games in Los Angeles from July 14, a decision is expected next summer with Luxembourg which launched its campaign last October.
However, the Grand Duchy is no longer alone in the race. During an event organized at the foot of Reims Cathedral, the sub-prefecture of Marne and the Grand Est region, represented by Mayor Arnaud Robinet and regional president Franck Leroy, formalized their candidacy in the presence of Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme. Such an event is seen by local authorities as an opportunity to “reinforce the attractiveness of the territory, to highlight all of its heritage attractions and to recall its European and international dimension”. Questioned by the regional daily
The Unionthe boss of the Grande Boucle admitted to having “several applications for 2028 and the years that follow” but assures that Reims and its region represent “the terrain of expression favorable to champions”. Christian Prudhomme thus remembers Julian Alaphilippe’s victory in Epernay during the 3rd stage of the 2019 Tour.
Prudhomme: “A very good candidacy”
It allowed the French rider to take the yellow jersey. The director of the Tour de France also highlighted “the beauty of the landscapes” of Champagne as the strong point of this candidacy. “ It really looks great from a helicopter, with the Champagne and with the champagnehe added. We know we will have fervor. I even want to tell you that we will have excitement. » Presented as “a very good application”, the file presented by Reims and the Grand Est region will be studied “carefully”. But the boss of the event assures thatannouncing this candidacy at the foot of the Cathedral “gives an idea of what a potential Grand Départ could be for Reims and the Grand Est region”. It now remains to be seen whether it will be convincing enough to get the green light in the coming months.
