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When cycling's Tour de France gets underway, as has become the trend, it will not be in France!

The Grand Depart will be held in Utrecht, a small Dutch city near Amsterdam, and among the sea of riders and raucous crowd of fans will be a silent spectator, one that means a lot to Utrecht.

Miffy, a cartoon rabbit drawn by artist Dick Bruna has been chosen as the official mascot of the Grand Depart as part of celebrations of her 60th birthday

Miffy books have sold 85 million copies all over the world, and of course there is a Miffy Museum in Utrecht, where we sent Sportshour's Steve Crossman

Photo: Mini Miffy's in Tour de France garb (CREDIT: Steve Crossman/³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ)