Tour de France considering start in Qatar

Tour of Qatar st3

published 2 February 2009

Organisers of the Tour de France are considering a start in Doha, Qatar, where they are currently running the Tour of Qatar.

According to a report in The Peninsula, Qatar's English language newspaper, organisers of the French stage race are seriously considering a start in the Middle East country.

"We are honoured to see the expression of interest from the Qatar Cycling Federation," Tour director Christian Prudhomme told the paper. "We have to first conduct racing tests so that we know the riders feel comfortable in this heat. As you know the race is held in July and that time of the year is very hot [in Qatar]."

"We have to look at other logistics also," Prudhomme continued. "Tour de France is a huge event which involves massive manpower and an incredible number of technical issues dealing with one edition of the race. It is by no means a small event. So we have to see all that and then decide."

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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.