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Rotterdam
8 km
Saturday 3 July
After a start launched from Brittany in 2008 and an unusual time-trial start from Monaco in 2009, this year’s Tour Start from Rotterdam returns to a more traditional format. The itinerary through the city centre, crossing the Erasmus Bridge in both directions, is a flat straight, not too winding. An ideal itinerary for time-trial specialists.
• Once a stage town
• Population: 600,000
• Second most important city in the Netherlands
The Tour Start from Rotterdam marks the comeback of the prologue time-trial, not included in the race programme for the last two years. It first appeared on the itinerary of the 1967 Tour, won by Spanish rider José Maria Errandonea. The fastest short-distance specialists of prologue time-trials were Bernard Hinault (5 wins), Eddy Merckx, Thierry Marie and Chris Boardman (3 wins each). In the 1994 Tour the British rider broke the fastest record with an average speed of 55,152 km/h.
