In 2015, Antwerp will host the start of the third stage of the Tour de France. The stage will go from west to east Belgium and will finish on the Mur de Huy. The city of Antwerp has bigger plans for the future. In 2020, exactly 100 years after the city hosted the Olympic Games, Antwerp wants to host the Grand Depart of the ‘Grand Boucle’.

The last Grand Depart in Belgium took place in 2012, when the Tour de France started in Liege. Antwerp wants to be the next Belgium city to host the Grand Depart and are targeting 2020, because they want to honor the 100-year celebration of the Olympic Games in Antwerp. But Ludo van Campenhout, minister of sport for the city of Antwerp, admitted that so far it are earl ambitions.

“So far it is only a dream”, van Campenhout stated. “But a dream we are determined to realize. We already are saving money to create a budget for hosting the Grand Depart.”

Hosting a Grand Depart doesn't come cheap. The ASO (organizer of the Tour de France) reportedly asks between 2,5 and 3 million for the rights to host the start of their three week spectacle.

Christian Prudhomme spoke encouraging words for the city at the official presentation of the Tour de France route earlier this week. “Cities are happy to be part of the Tour de France, but it is also the other way around. I am honored that we are going to be in a beautiful city like Antwerp. Antwerp is a real cycling city.”