The Tour de France kicks off in Denmark in 2022
The Danish start date for the tour has been moved to 1 - 3 July 2022. The Board of Directors behind the Tour de France in Denmark, Grand Départ Copenhagen Denmark I/S, has now come to an agreement with the French arranger of the tour following the negotiations of recent weeks.
The Board of Directors of the Danish tour organisation has come to an agreement with the French racing organisation, A.S.O. on a solution in which the Danish start date of the tour will be postponed until 2022. The start date of the Tour de France in 2021 had to be rescheduled a week later due to the Tokyo Olympics, which would have clashed with, among other things, Copenhagen´s hosting of the UEFA European Football Championship.
“I´m glad that we have been able to secure a Danish start date in 2022. Many of us have been looking forward to having the Tour de France come to Denmark next year, and, unfortunately, now we´ll have to wait a little longer. On the other hand, the Danes now have a huge yellow celebration to look forward to right across the country that will be even bigger and better in 2022, when the tour start date won´t be squeezed in between the European Football Championship and the Olympic Games and, hopefully, Corona will be behind us. I would like to thank all the parties who were involved, not least of all the Minister of Trade and Industry, A.O.S. and Christian Prudhomme for the role they have played in finding a common solution that was a win/win for everyone,” says the Chairman of the Board of Grand Départ Copenhagen Denmark and Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, Frank Jensen (Danish Social Democrats).
The Danish tour arrangers do not expect that there will be any changes to the three Danish stages. The postponement has the full backing of the five Danish towns where the tour will start or finish. Now the national tour secretariat will enter into a dialogue with the eight municipalities the tour will pass through regarding the change of dates.
“Starting the tour in the summer of 2022 is the best solution available under these special circumstances. During the stages, we will have the chance to show off Denmark at her best to the whole world and will also be able to showcase Danish trade and industry and tourism. This will be a huge Danish event in 2022,” says Simon Kollerup, the Minister of Trade and Industry (Danish Social Democrats).
The Board of Directors of Grand Départ Copenhagen Denmark has unanimously chosen to accept A.S.O.´s offer to postpone the Danish start of the tour until 2022. The next step will be to sign a formal agreement with A.S.O., and that is a political process in which approval must be given by the city councils and the state.
FACTS
- The postponement until 1-3 July 2022 will entail extra costs of approx. DKK 5.8 million for the national secretariat, which the state and A.S.O. will cover jointly. In addition to this, there will be expenses for each of the towns at the start and finish of each stage which their own municipalities will cover.
- The original budget for the Danish Grand Départ was DKK 88 million, of which DKK 17 million was to be financed by the state, DKK 55 million by the five municipalities and DKK 15 million by the regions. The remaining DKK 1 million is to be financed by other contributions such as revenue from corporate sponsorship.
- On top of the common budget, as host towns, the individual municipalities have other obligations in connection with the planning and running of the race, including preparing the route, cleaning and cordoning off, etc.
- Tour de France 2021 was to be held on 2 July - 25 July 2021. In June, however, the Danish tour organisation received a request from the French tour arranger, A.S.O. asking them to postpone the Danish Grand Départ by a week so that it wouldn´t fall on the same dates as the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
- On Tuesday, 28 July the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced that the Tour de France 2021 will be postponed by a week, so the race will now be held on 26 June -18 July 2021.
- There are not expected to be any changes to the three Danish stages as a result of the postponement. There will now be a dialogue with the eight municipalities the tour will pass through regarding the change of dates.
- In connection with the change of the Danish start date, Grand Départ Copenhagen I/S has reached an agreement with ALIVE A/S over the hospitality rights. This will continue without any changes until 2022. Read more at ALIVE.dk.
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