Liège will host the start of the 2012 Tour de France, with the first three days of the race to take place in Belgium.

The city previously held the Grand Départ in 2004, when Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara powered to victory on a 6.1km prologue.

The 2012 Tour is set to start a week earlier than usual – on June 30 – due to the London Olympic Games, which kick-off on July 27. Further details will be announced on November 18. 

Meanwhile, three-time Tour champion Alberto Contador has been handed a vote of confidence by both the Spanish Cycling Federation and the Spanish Olympic Committee. 

The Spaniard, winner in 2007, 2009 and 2010, faces a doping charge after testing positive for clenbuterol during this year’s Tour. 

Elsewhere in the peloton, Team Sky have appointed Servais Knaven and Nicolas Portal as director sportifs for the forthcoming season.

Dutchman Knaven won a stage of the Tour de France in 2003 while 31-year-old Frenchman Portal was forced to draw his riding career to a premature close last year after suffering heart problems.