2021 Tour de France start moved to Brittany

The 2021 Tour de France will start in Brittany after Copenhagen’s staging of the Grand Depart was pushed back by a year due to a potential clash with soccer’s postponed European Championship.

Brittany will also host the first four full stages of the race.

“Delighted to announce with Christian Prudhomme that we Finistere, will start in Cotes Brest, dArmor, ’pass through Morbihan and Ille-et-Vilaine. It will be a great celebration and a boost for the economy,” the region’s president Loig Chesnais-Girard said.

The start of next year’s Tour was brought forward by six days to avoid clashing with the men’s road race at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics. The new June 26 start date, however, created a clash for Denmark with the European Championship, which runs from June 11-July 11.

Denmark is due to host three group matches as well as a last16 match, all taking place at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen in June. The Danish start to the Tour will be held from July 1-3 2022.

Picture: GETTY IMAGES / MUSTAFA YALCIN PRESSURE: Geraint Thomas of Great Britain, centre, competes with teammate Chris Froome of Great Britain, left, on the Champs-Elysees avenue before winning the Tour de France in Paris in 2018.