t was in October 1985 that the organisers of the Tour de France announced that the 1987 race start would take place in West Berlin. Still divided by its famous wall at the time, Berlin would be marking the 750th anniversary of its official founding that year and the western part of the city wanted the Grand Départ as part of the celebrations. Felix Levitan, then co-director of the race, said he hoped the move would encourage teams from the Eastern Bloc to enter the Tour and promote ‘understanding between peoples’, although it turned out that no such teams made it to the 1987
