The Spanish Grand Tour will start on French soil for the very first time in 2017, with a "gran salida" in the Languedoc city of Nîmes, around 250 km from the Spanish border.

This will be the third foreign start for the Vuelta, after 1997, when the race departed in Portugal, and the 2009 start in the Netherlands.

Race director Javier Guillén said to Le Figaro: "It's up to the city authorities now, we are very excited about Nîmes as the departure point. If the mayor agrees, it's no problem."

Bullfighting is still alive in Nîmes: Bouts are held in the old Roman arena which could be a possible venue for the team presentation.

Incumbent mayor Jean-Paul Fournier, who faces an election in late March, announced the Vuelta start in his hometown yesterday, when a stage of the Étoile de Bessèges started in Nîmes.