500,000 in Valkenburg for Tour de France

More than 500,000 cycling fans were in Valkenburg in the south-east of the Netherlands on Tuesday to watch German Matthias Kessler win the third stage of the Tour de France.

This is the second time the famous cycling event has visited the municipality of Valkenburg aan de Geul. An estimated 600,000 people lined the course through the town in 1992 when the Tour last came to Valkenburg.

[...] Valkenburg is famous for its cycling events. The city hosted the UCI Road Cycling World Championship for a record four times: 1938, 1948, 1979 and 1998. The town’s Cauberg district has also been the finish for the Amstel Gold Race since the 1990s.

Full article: Expatica Netherlands, ANP, 4 July 2006