London hosts Tour de France start

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The world's most famous cycling race comes to London for the first time as the 94th edition of the Tour de France starts on Saturday with an individual time trial for the 189 riders.

The eight kilometer prologue will take in many of the most famous London landmarks and finish in front of Buckingham Palace on the Mall.

The winner of the high-speed test against the clock will earn the right to wear the famous yellow jersey for the first stage proper over 203 kilometers from London's Tower Bridge to Canterbury.

The Tour then crosses into France where the second stage commences from the channel port of Dunkirk.

The 3,570 kilometer route in total features 20 stages, with six days in the mountains and two individual time trials which are likely to decide the overall winner of the three-week marathon.

Despite the drugs scandals which have severely tarnished the image of cycling, over a million people are expected to view the proceedings in London with mayor Ken Livingstone saying the tour's Grand Depart is "the biggest sporting event hosted by London ahead of the 2012 Olympics."

By the time the race finishes in Paris on July 29 it is estimated that as many as 15 million people will have watched by the roadside with an audience of two billion on television and the Internet.

The Tour begins against the backdrop of a series of drugs scandals with last year's winner Floyd Landis awaiting the result of a doping hearing which could lead to his disqualification.

Former Giro d'Italia champion Ivan Basso, who would have been among the favorites, has recently started a two-year ban and this year's Giro winner Danilo di Luca is also being investigated by Italian authorities.

1996 winner Bjarne Riis recently admitted taking illegal substances during his victory and has decided against attending this year's Tour as manager of the leading Danish team CSC.

Organizers will also be desperate to avoid the damaging events which preceded last year's Grand Depart in Strasbourg where star riders, including Basso and Tour favorite Jan Ullrich, were thrown out on the eve of the race because of their links to a doping investigation in Spain.

"I want the guy who raises his arms in triumph on the Champs-Elysees to be the irreproachable champion," said Tour chief Christian Prudhomme.

To help achieve this aspiration, the riders face the most rigorous testing regime in the Tour's history and all 189 were blood tested and given the all-clear prior to the start.

With seven-time champion Lance Armstrong now retired, and his predecessor Landis mired in scandal, this year's Tour promises to be among the most open and unpredictable.

Two British riders, Olympic pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins and David Millar, who served a two-year ban after admitting doping, are tipped to be wearing yellow after Saturday's prologue, but are unlikely to be challenging for overall honors.

Kazakhstan's Alexandrer Vinokourov, a former third-placer in the 2003 Tour and winner of last year's Tour of Spain, is considered the favorite by cycling experts and he will have the backing of a strong Astana team which also includes another contender in Andreas Kloden of Germany.

But any one of at least a dozen riders will nervously roll down the starting ramp near London's Trafalgar Square on Saturday afternoon with genuine aspirations of victory.

After last week's failed terror attacks in London and Glasgow, security has been stepped up ahead of the start, with over 5,000 police officers set to be in place.

"The important message is that London is open for business as usual, but we have reviewed our security plans in light of what happened," said Superintendent Ian Chappell of London's Metropolitan Police. E-mail to a friend