Fans and professional riders are pleased while the City Council of Düsseldorf is probably a bit nervous: The North Rhine-Westphalian capital has signed a contract to host the start of the Tour de France in 2017 and so takes a financial risk.

After the vote in the city council came out 40-39 in favour of the bid on November 6, Mayer Thomas Geisel talked about a possible cost of "more than six million cost" for the city.

Three-time time trial champion Tony Martin who wore the yellow jersey in the last Tour for the first time in his career, sees the decision as a "nice signal" and looks forward to a "potential time trial at the start.”

Before Dusseldorf, Cologne (1965), Frankfurt / Main (1980) and West Berlin (1987) have hosted the Grand Depart in Germany. Most recently, the Tour visited Karlsruhe and Pforzheim in 2005. Only one year later, the only German Tour winner Jan Ullrich was taken out of the race shortly before the start in Strasbourg. The reason was his involvement in the Fuentes scandal.

In the subsequent years, cycling had a difficult position in Germany because of the constant doping affairs. It is mainly the credible performances by German top riders Tony Martin, Marcel Kittel, John Degenkolb and André Greipel who have had a clear anti-doping stance that has created a chance. This year public broadcaster ARD showed the race again after several years break of absence.

Düsseldorf Mayor Geisel became active in July when he met with Tour boss Christian Prudhomme. However, he had a hard time getting political support for his plans: Only the votes of the right-wing republican and the right-wing populist AfD allowed the social democrat to proceed with his plans.

However, the income for the city when it comes to image and the expected fans, has many unknowns. That made it too risky for the city of London which withdrew its bid. This year more than two million people gathered in the city of Utrecht. Düsseldorf hopes for similar numbers in 2017.

Geisel is optimistic when it comes to the economic aspects. "In the agreements between the state capital Dusseldorf and the Tour organizers, we have made arrangements that allows for attractive Grand Départ sponsorship packages for the local economy," he said in a statement.

The 2016 Tour will start on 1 July at Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy. Dusseldorf was the only serious German candidate for 2017 after Münster and Saarland had withdrawn.