The crown jewel of French sport, the Tour de France, is to start for the first time in London next year, mayor Ken Livingstone confirmed on Tuesday.

It will be only the third time that the race has come to England in its 103-year history and the first time that the prestigious Grand Depart will be given on English soil.

Livingstone said that London would host the prologue time trial on July 7, 2007 and the first stage of the race the following day. The tour finishes as usual on the Champs-Elysees in central Paris on July 23 after crisscrossing the French countryside from the Atlantic Ocean to the Alps.

"I am proud to announce that London has successfully bid to host the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in July 2007," he said. "Hosting the first stage of the legendary French cycle race will raise the profile of cycling in the capital, attract visitors and promote the capital as a venue for international sporting events."

Cycling in the British capital "is growing faster than anywhere else in Europe," Livingstone said, noting that Transport for London has increased investment in cycling from 5.5 million pounds in 2000 to 24 million pounds this year.

"I want London to become a world-class cycling city," he continued. "Today's announcement is great news for cycling and for London, and we will unveil the route at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference center on February 9."

The Tour has made a habit over the last 50 years of visiting foreign shores for its Grand Depart every three or four years, including Amsterdam in 1954, Brussels the following year, Berlin in 1987 and Dublin in 1998.

The Irish capital was the first city outside of continental Europe to stage the tour opener. London will be the second.

London had competition for the right to host the tour opener from Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark after announcing its bid in October 2004 on the occasion of the centenary of the Entente Cordial friendship treaty between the two, often squabbling, Western European neighbors.

The opening ceremony of the 2007 Tour will take place on July 6 and the route is expected to take in many of London's world-famous landmarks such as Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace.

The prologue time trial takes place on July 7 and the first stage will be on July 8. The prologue is expected to cover 8-10km, with the first stage estimated at 200km, in and around London.

Livingstone said that London would pay Tour organizers 1.5 million pounds (2.2 million euros) for the right to stage the event, which will be beamed out to a huge worldwide TV audience.

Livingstone said hosting the event should be a a better bargain than recent attempts to host a London Grand Prix.

"If you compare what we have paid the Tour de France to win the right to host this with what I was being asked as a contribution to the Grand Prix by Bernie Ecclestone, this is dramatically less," he said.

Millar hopes to be poster boy for clean racing
David Millar says he aims to become the standard-bearer for clean cycling when he makes a return to competition after completing a two-year drug ban.

"For some people my name will remain stained forever, but for those that can understand it I want to prove in this second stage of my career that I can be a successful and clean sportsman," Millar was quoted as saying by Spanish sports daily AS on Tuesday.

"I want to show that I can compete without outside help and become an icon for clean cycling as well as an example to young people.

"There are a lot of idiots out there who think you can't win anything without drugs, but we have to convince the young generation that this isn't the case."

Millar was banned for two years and stripped of his gold medal from the 2003 time trial world championships after he admitted taking the banned endurance booster erythropoietin (EPO) in 2001 and 2003.

"At first I thought I would never return to cycling. It was a terrible blow and I had to return to England to reconstruct my life. The first six months were really difficult, but then I decided to get myself together and make a comeback," Millar said.

Millar added that during his ban he had been working with young cyclists in the British Federation to show them the sport can be clean.

The 29-year-old time-trial specialist, who has signed with the Saunier Duval team for the forthcoming season, said he would return to competition in the Tour de France shortly after his ban ends on June 23.

"I will make my debut in the Tour prologue," said Millar, who has won three Tour stages in his career, including the 2000 prologue. "I'm going to be training full out for that day. I'm even preparing a special bike. I know it will be very difficult, but it is over a short distance and I have a chance of winning."

The Tour de France begins in Strasbourg on July 1.