COPENHAGEN : Denmark, a nation regarded for its adore of biking, will host the to start with leg of the Tour de France this week and approximately a million spectators are expected to watch the riders as they traverse the Nordic country’s harsh winds and flat countryside.
Speaking to reporters in Copenhagen on Monday, Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme praised Denmark as the “property of cycling”.
“You are an case in point in Denmark, and that is 1 of the reasons we are listed here,” he explained.
In what will be the northernmost get started in the background of the race, the to start with three levels of the world’s biggest biking race will span the place from east to west, with the to start with leg, or Grand Depart, becoming a 13km time demo as a result of the streets of the cash.
A scorching location for spectators will be at Dronning Louises Bro, a bridge connecting downtown Copenhagen with the hip Norrebro neighbourhood. Around 40,000 cyclists cross the bridge each and every day, making it the world’s busiest bicycle keep track of.
Decades of investments in bicycle infrastructure have transformed Copenhagen into a single of the world’s most bike-helpful cities. According to the transport ministry, each individual time a Dane rides 1 kilometre on a bicycle, the point out will save 8 crowns ($1.14) on general public well being prices.
“It doesn’t make a difference irrespective of whether it’s the crown prince, the scorching-doggy seller or the CEO – they all get the bike to do the job. We are out of the blue equal when we are on the bicycle,” former professional rider and biking commentator Rolf Sorensen explained to Reuters.
“Many Danes consider of on their own as cyclists, as somebody who has had the bicycle as component of their life from early childhood,” Danish Cyclists’ Federation director, Jane Kofod, explained.
The peloton might working experience large winds on the next and 3rd phases when they cross the 18km (11 miles) Fantastic Belt Bridge and the somewhat flat countryside of Denmark, where by the optimum level is just 171 metres over sea degree.
($1 = 7.0135 Danish crowns)