It’s the Tour de (fill in the blank)

COME July, Tour de France cyclists will start out by whizzing past -- Big Ben?

For the first time in its history, the granddaddy of all cycling races will begin in London.

The Grand Depart -- the name of the first three events -- will begin July 6 with an opening ceremony in Trafalgar Square, the start of three weeks of cycling frenzy in Europe.

Every three or four years, the tour starts outside France, and countries bid for the privilege of hosting it. Britain was selected for 2007 partly because of its TV appeal, said Stephen Taylor, a spokesman for the organizing body Transport for London. “The iconic images that London will provide were a huge attraction,” he said.

Millions of spectators are expected to line the route, some camping out for days to secure a good spot. Millions more will follow news coverage.

The opening ceremony introduces the teams and their riders, about 200 of the world’s best cyclists. On the second day, riders will compete in the five-mile Prologue, a timed trial through central London to determine who will don the famous yellow jersey. Cyclists will pedal past Whitehall, the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park.

Day Three marks Stage One of the tour, which will wind past Big Ben and St. Paul’s Cathedral, cross Tower Bridge and continue through Greenwich, before traveling into the Kentish countryside to finish in Canterbury. The next day, riders will continue the race in Dunkirk, France.

The race first came to Britain in 1974 and, 20 years later, cranked through the Chunnel for a Dover-to-Brighton stage. Each stage of the race is a wild and shifting festival of souvenir stands, food stalls and flag-waving spectators.

Except during World Wars I and II, the Tour de France has been held annually since 1903. The grueling three-week race takes riders on a course of 3,500 kilometers (about 2,175 miles) through villages and cities and across plains and mountains. The finish line is in Paris on the Champs-Elysees. For more information, visit www.tourdefrancelondon.com.

For those who can’t wait until summer for a cycling fix, the Amgen Tour of California will begin Feb. 18 with the Prologue in San Francisco. This eight-day, 650-mile race made its debut last year.

The course winds along the coast and inland, through Sacramento, San Luis Obispo and Solvang, before finishing in Long Beach on Feb. 25. Visit www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/.