Denmark goes crazy in yellow

STORY

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Denmark is going all crazy in yellow before hosting Tour de France Grand Départ, 1-3 July, probably the world’s greatest cycling race.

Europe’s longest bridge The Great Belt Bridge can now be seen in yellow and the city Aabenra hosting the last of the 3. stages in Le Grand Depart has painted there bridge yellow.

Danes, that bike in a combined total of 8 million kilometers (5 million miles) per day is one of the world’s most bike-loving people in the world.  Danish Jonas Vingegaard came second in last years Tour de France.

The first stage is being prepared in Copenhagen, where 9 out of 10 owns a bike at the age of 6. In spite a total Danish population of only 6 mio do Copenhagen have the worlds most biked bridge in the world with 40,000 registrated cyclists daily. The city’s 22 kilometer of bike-lanes including new innovative bike-bridges have made it the #1 Cycling City many times.

“It was canceled last year, which was really sad for me, due to corona”, says 24 year old  Max Hellen-Hegelund, 24 biker from Copenhagen and continues, “Corona is gone now. It is going to be assume that the Tour de France finally arrives in Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark of course”.

Bakers along the 3 routes in Denmark are also going crazy with for instance pie’s in yellow with a bike on. Baker Tina Bosse, age 56 from Baker Bosse in Copenhagen answered with a big smile to the question, what a Tour de France cake taste like?
“It must taste of summer and joy and warmth and Tour de France” .
Rum-balls is actually the most popular. Rum balls are leftovers from pastry and cakes, kneaded with romessens covered with chocolate in the Tour de France colors. Awesome:)

Social media posts from people along the routes through Denmark also shows a lot of creativity. For instance cakes made in the French tradition in Lejre, hundreds of people creating a bike seen from the air in Roskilde, shops making all suits in window yellow in Copenhagen and umbrellas in Tour colors along the pedestrians in Aabenraa.

The first stage of the Grand Départ starts in Copenhagen along the yellow wrapped trees. 

There will be no sharp turns and the route is letting the riders gain full speed. In the past 10 years, Copenhagen has invested 200 million Euros in cycling infrastructure. The time trial is 13 km long.
Emil Stuve, 39. Bike-Fan says:  “I will see the first stage here in Copenhagen, and also go to the second stage in Roskilde, where I work”.

The second stage starts 50 km outside Copenhagen in the old viking capital Roskilde. The route goes 199 km through the paineretique old viking territories with small fjords, and countryside, ending up on Europe’s longest bridge the Great Belt Bridge, that might split up the peloton.
The 18 km long bridge has proven a challenge in a previous smaller test-race. The open sea wind challenged the riders and might split all up, before ending in a top-sprint in Nyborg.
Danish World Champion from 2019 Mads Pedersen grew up in the region.

The 3rd. stage of the Grand Depart is 182 km. starting in Vejle and is the first hilly terrain on the tour, going beautiful up and down through forest and a very variante countryside, ending in Sønderborg on July 3rd, where a local painter donated the yellow bridge to honor, that the Tour de France first Grand Depart in Denmark was ending in Sønderborg.

The first bike lane in Denmark was established in 1892 in Copenhagen and the network of national cycle routes now span 4,770 kilometers (2,963 miles) across all of Denmark.

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