On 3 July 2021, the Tour de France will venture farther north than ever before when it reaches the 70-kilometre mark in the second Danish stage, from Roskilde to Nyborg.
The profiles of the first three stages were unveiled this morning in Vejle, another town that will host the 108th edition of the race. The show will get on the road in the capital of the country, Copenhagen, which is known as the most cycling-friendly city on Earth.
The Tour de France has explored all sorts of coasts, from beaches, harbours and cliffs to rocky inlets, dykes and bays. In 2021, the peloton of the Grande Boucle will discover a Nordic variant, the fjords, when it rolls out of Vejle for stage 3, held in the southern part of the Jutland peninsula. The hometown of 1977 Ballon d'Or winner Allan Simonsen also hosted the unveiling of the profiles of the Danish stages of the 108th edition. The opening act of the Grande Boucle, a 13 km romp through the streets of Copenhagen, is tailored to the most explosive riders in the field. Although the pancake-flat course opens the door to record-high average speeds, one of the few times that the riders will have to hit the brakes will come 4 km before the line, where the Little Mermaid will watch them negotiate a tight corner. The next day, the stage starting in Roskilde, the old capital of the country, promises a fierce battle among the classics specialists, who will face a windswept 18 km section of bridges while crossing the Great Belt in the run-in to Nyborg. Finally, the 182 kilometre stage to Sønderborg that will wrap up the Danish adventure will be a fjordfest along the coast, with the sprinters itching to pounce on what will likely be the first bunch sprint of the race.
The Danish stages of the 2021 Tour de France:
Stage 1: Copenhagen (individual time trial), 13 km
Stage 2: Roskilde > Nyborg, 199 km
Stage 3: Vejle > Sønderborg, 182 km
Christian Prudhomme, director of Tour de France : "The first few days of the Tour de France often set the tone and atmosphere of a race that develops into whatever the riders want to make of it over the following three weeks. It is an exciting prospect to think that in July 2021 we will be applying the final touches to the start in the heart of a city that breathes and lives cycling. The first three stages will showcase the landscapes of Denmark and give rise to a wide range of scenarios in which power riders, echelon experts and sprinters will all get a chance to shine —a compendium of bicycle racing on flat terrain."
Dansk Metal, new local partner
The Danish trade union Dansk Metal, for those who work in industries of engineering, mechanics and IT becomes the 2021 Grand Départ's first Danish partner as an Official Fan. “We are very pleased that we have entered into this sponsorship. There is no doubt that the beginning of the Grand Boucle in Denmark will be a huge experience for a lot of Danes and we want at Dansk Metal want to contribute to that,” says Danish Metal Vice President René Nielsen.
