Paris - The French Alpine town of Annecy was named Wednesday as France's candidate city to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, holding off the challenge from Nice, Grenoble and Pelvoux-les-Ecrins.

Town mayor Jean-Luc Rigaut said 80 per cent of the necessary infrastructure was already in place in Annecy, which is situated beside the cleanest lake in Europe and Mont Blanc.

The German city of Munich, Switzerland's Wallis and Pyeongchang, South Korea have already expressed an interest in hosting the 2018 Winter Games.

The 2010 edition takes place in Whistler, Canada with Russia hosting the 2014 event in Sochi.

The host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics will be announced in Durban in July 2011. (dpa)