The organisers of the Tour and London mayor Ken Livingstone announced on 24 January 2006 that the start of the Tour would take place in London . Livingstone noted the two stages would commemorate the victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings , saying " '' Having the Grand Départ on the seventh of July will broadcast to the world that terrorism does not shake our city . '' " The routes for the Prologue in London and the first full stage through Kent , finishing in Canterbury , were announced on 9 February 2006 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre . This was the third time the Tour visited United Kingdom , including Plymouth in ( 1974 ) and two stages in Kent , Sussex and Hampshire in ( 1994 )
7 July 2005 London bombings
7 July 2005 London bombings
2007 Tour de France