Tour de France - The prologue of the Tour de France in 2009 will take place on the streets of Monaco, according to a report in French daily Le Parisien.

The paper claims the principality will host a 15.2 kilometre time-trial, with race organisers having turned down applications from Rotterdam and Utrecht, Liege, Lugano, Budapest, Florence and the Basque Country.

It would be the first time the Tour has begun in Monaco.

The prologue for this year's Tour de France is scheduled to take place in London on July 7.