ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Cyclists will ride in a 9-kilometer time trial through the streets and across three bridges in Rotterdam for the opening stage of the 2010 Tour de France.

The start of cycling's premier event returns to the Netherlands for the sixth time and the first time since 1996, race chief Christian Prudhomme said Thursday at a theater whose stage was set for a musical production of Victor Hugo's classic Les Miserables.

After the first stage of the Tour on July 3, riders will parade through the city on July 4, pausing on the landmark Erasmus Bridge before striking out west and then south through the low-lying and often wind-swept coastal landscape of Zeeland province and toward Belgium.

No further details of the 2010 route will be released until next October.

Joop Zoetemelk, the 1980 Tour champion and one of only two Dutchmen — along with Jan Janssen in 1958 — to have won the race, said headwinds would likely hit all riders in the second stage.

"If there's wind, there's wind for everybody," Zoetemelk said. "I never found it too much of a problem. You just have to keep riding."

Prudhomme said interest in staging the opening of the three-week race has soared since London successfully hosted the event in 2007. And he would not rule out the race starting outside Europe in the future.

Bids to host a first stage have come from as far afield as Hungary and Qatar, while Scotland, Canada and even Japan also have inquired about the possibility, Prudhomme told The Associated Press.

Still, he said it is too early to say if the race might go intercontinental.

"I don't know, but 20 years ago it would have been impossible to have the start in London and the start in London was really, really impressive and unforgettable for us," he said.

"We can't say never. We don't know. It depends on means of communication — how can we go from one point to another point?" Prudhomme told AP, adding that: "the Tour de France is universal."

The 2009 race starts in the wealthy principality of Monaco on the Mediterranean Sea and all eyes will be on Lance Armstrong, the seven-time champion returning to the grueling event for the first time since his last victory in 2005.

Prudhomme said he could not assess Armstrong's chances as he has yet to ride in his first comeback race after three years in retirement. That's scheduled to happen in the Jan. 20-25 Tour Down Under in Australia.

"We have to wait. He is not a rider like other riders," Prudhomme said. "Some champions succeeded in winning again after a retreat like Michael Jordan. Others didn't succeed, like Bjorn Borg."

Prudhomme said he was sure of one thing — when the Texan lines up with the Astana team, he will be desperate to do well.

"If he wants to be at the start, he has to be in the first positions, perhaps in the first position," he said.