The 2016 edition of the Tour de France will start in the Manche department in Normandy, organisers ASO said Monday, but apparently will skip Thailand entirely.
Nearly two months after tourism officials declared “Tour de France to be held in Thailand next year” before backpedaling that claim to 2016, the kingdom did not seem to be mentioned in Monday’s announcement.
It will be the first time in Tour history that it will start in the Manche department, most famous for its hill-top island abbey Mont Saint-Michel.
READ: Tour de Where? French organizers dismiss claim famous race coming to Thailand
Manche, named after the French term for the English Channel that separates the country from Britain, has played host to a Tour stage 23 times since 2011, most recently in 2013 when an individual time-trial ended at Mont Saint-Michel.
Mont Saint-Michel is a UNESCO world heritage site.
The exact town that will host the ‘”Grand Depart” will be revealed at a press conference on Dec. 9.
The 2015 edition, where Italian Vincenzo Nibali will be defending his title, will begin in Utrecht in the Netherlands.
As for Thailand, the Amaury Sport Organisation said in October that Thailand was being considered for a “criterium,” which is a short race held some months after the Tour de France is finished. It often attracts some of the top-performing cyclists from the real thing but is not prized competitively.
Story: AFP / Photo: Coconuts Bangkok
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