What's with the TdF in England?
 

I'm surprised that the English would even ALLOW a French event on their soil.

And...the "Tour de France" in England? That doesn't even make sense.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

The question is why the French decided to take it to London. My guess is $$$$$$$ in terms of building the sport.

i watched a couple clips on velonews.com about the riders opinions and they've all said they love it. they said there is a ton of support. some said there were more people at the prologue than they had seen at a cycling event. Money always has something to do with it, but like Mike said it's probably doing a lot to build the sport and spread its popularity and visibility.

and for the record i didn't even notice the TdF was starting in london... there is way too much terminology i'm trying to catch on to bother with something as trivial as location :)

The tour is great event for generating income and notice. Towns compete like crazy to be a start or end of a stage and even to be a pass thro9ugh. The your has in the past started in or passed through Luxembourg, Ireland, belguim, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands (I think) and perhaps others. It is truly a spectacle of monumental proportions.