The Netherlands will host the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in 2015.
The opening time trail will be held in the city of Utrecht on July 4.
Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France, said: “The Netherlands is a cycling nation, one which has written quite a few remarkable chapters of the history of the Tour de France."
Utrecht’s main attraction, he said, "is the way it has integrated cycling into its day-to-day life."
The county of Yorkshire in England will host the Grand Start in 2014. The first stage on July 5 will travel from Leeds to Harrogate, followed by York to Sheffield on July 6.
The third stage over 170km will see the riders race from Cambridge to London.
