It is seven years ago, that the two danes knocked on the door of the Tour de France director, Christian Prudhomme, and presented an idea, which few people at that time would have thought possible.
They took idemænd behind the Giro d’italia’s start in Herning, denmark in 2012 had got blood on the tooth, and now they would try to shop on the very top shelf.
the Meeting with Prudhomme was the beginning of a long and intensive process, as of Thursday morning culminated with the presentation of Denmark as the host for the first three stages of the Tour de France in 2021.
– My first thought was that Denmark is very far away. But as we say in French: Impossible n’est pas francais (in France, nothing is impossible, red.), said Tour director Christian Prudhomme after Thursday’s news conference.
And the impossible was largely made possible by the two danes, which, according to Prudhomme has done an excellent piece of work to get the Tour de France to Denmark.
– Alex and Joachim have been working extremely hard, so they are very important for what we have achieved here today. And when I saw Joachim standing with red eyes and be so touched today, I was very happy. They believed in their dream, they fought for it, and they got it to come true, he says.
Joachim Andersen (h).v) and Alex Pedersen (t.(h) answered questions after Thursday’s news conference. Photo: Jonas Olufson
The two enthusiasts were of course also excited for today’s unveiling.
– It is seven years of work, was cemented today at 9.30 am, when Christian Prudhomme signed the contract. It is crazy huge for us, ” says Joachim Andersen.
And direct when asked how the two men from Denmark went from idea to action to get the world’s greatest cycling to Denmark, a project which most probably would have given up in advance, says Alex Pedersen:
– We just thought that we could get the Giro, so could we also have it here.
– We could try to give it a shot if nothing else. So we said arrivederci to the pink jersey, and Bonjour to the yellow.
What do we know about the Tour de France Grand Départ in Denmark
– the Whole of the Tour de France and the field come to Denmark to run the first three stages in the summer of 2021.
– Start in Denmark has been given the slogan “The greatest cycling race in the world meets the best cycling city in the world”.
– 900.000 spectators are expected to attend the three stages in Denmark.
– the Budget for the Danish Grand Départ is set to 88 million dollars.
– Tour de France transmiteres in 190 countries and has roughly 3.5 billion tv viewers during the race the world over.
– the Day after the third stage will be held the day of rest, and the teams fly to France.
the Danish Cycling Union rejoices over the Tour start in Denmark
