As last year, Christian Prudhomme will reveal the full Tour de France route details in the Palais des Congrès on late October (Image credit: AFP)
It's that time of year again for speculation on the next Tour de France course. The Grand Tour organiser Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) will reveal the race details only on October 22 in Paris, but the media are already on the hunt for first leaks.
In this way, Spanish news agency Efe claims that one of the 2009 Tour stages will visit the principality of Andorra, located in the Pyrenees between France and Spain. The tourism minister of Andorra, Juli Minoves, reportedly affirmed this on Tuesday this week after talks with Tour director Christian Prudhomme and is now waiting for an official confirmation.
Sources inside the government of Andorra said that the stage finishing in the country's capital of Andorra la Vella may start in Spanish Barcelona, another city which is said to host a Tour de France stage finish on Saturday, July 11, 2009.
Belgian Sportwereld today ventured that one day prior to the stage finishing in Barcelona, the Tour will see another Spanish stage start in Girona, finishing this time in Perpignan, France.
Small Catalunyan newspaper Sport claimed to know all of the stage finishes of the first week of racing, namely Pinerolo on the outskirts of Torino, Italy, then Sisteron, Aubenas, Montpellier and Sète, where the first time trial is rumoured to take place.
One thing is for sure: The 2009 Tour de France will start in Monaco on July 4. Everything else is speculation.
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