The Tour de France starts this year as far north as never before. In Denmark, a Grand Départ is celebrated with correspondingly large crowds. One day before the start there was another raid on Team Bahrain-Victorious.
When Denmark celebrates something, it usually does so proudly in the national colors of red and white. Now suddenly there is a bright yellow Eiffel Tower in Copenhagen’s Tivoli amusement park, and Germany’s northernmost neighbor also shines in many other places in the color of the coveted Maillot Jaune. The reason: For the first time in the history of cycling, the Tour de France is starting in Scandinavia – and the proud cycling nation of Denmark is doing everything it can to present itself in the very best light at a large folk festival.
“The biggest bike race in the world – the best bike city in the world”: With this not very modest slogan Copenhagen has invited to the start of the tour. After the time trial through the streets of the capital on Friday, two flat stages from Roskilde to Nyborg and from Vejle to Sønderborg near the German-Danish border are planned for the weekend before the Tour moves to home country France. Hundreds of thousands of celebrating fans are expected at the Danish stages on the side of the road, there have been no corona restrictions in the country for months.
The tour organizer was skeptical for a long time – now the enthusiasm is great
Denmark has been working for years to have the world’s largest cycling tour take place in the far north – and that has to do with a name that the country has a hard time with these days: Bjarne Riis. When he became the first and only Dane to date to win the Tour de France for Team Telekom in 1996, he got his compatriots into cycling euphoria. From this euphoria at the time, the bold idea was born to bring the tour to Denmark.
The tour organizer ASO was skeptical for a long time – too far away from France, Denmark is too flat. In the years of the doping swamp – Riis also admitted in 2007 the long-term use of prohibited substances – the idea was put on hold. But in the end the organizers were persuaded by the extensive lobbying work done by the Danes – today they are enthusiastic about what they encountered at the Grand Départ.
Despite the joy of the Tour de France in Denmark, there is also criticism
Despite all the anticipation, the start of the tour is not viewed completely uncritically. “It’s simply fantastic that it worked out to bring the Tour de France to Denmark,” wrote the leading newspaper Politiken. However, she complained that the public was left completely in the dark about the true costs of the tour. According to the newspaper, the total bill for the three stages should amount to at least 180 million crowns – the equivalent of over 24 million euros.
Then there is the Causa Riis. The “Adler von Herning” is disappointed that the organizers did not officially invite him to the start of the tour. As the broadcaster TV2 Sport reported on Thursday, a major sponsor is now making sure that Riis can be part of the three Danish tour days – if he wants to.
Raid the day before the start of the tour
Raids made headlines before the start of the tour. One day before the start of the Tour de France in the Danish capital Copenhagen, there was another raid on the Bahrain-Victorious team. On Thursday morning at 5.30 a.m., the team’s hotel rooms and cars were searched in the Bröndby district. According to the Copenhagen police, this was done at the request of the French police. “We have no further information about the operation,” investigator Dannie Rise said in the statement. The team said they were fully cooperating with authorities and no items were confiscated.
The public prosecutor’s office in Marseille, which is leading the investigation, contradicted this on Thursday evening in “Le Parisien”. During searches between June 27 and 30 in Italy, Spain, Belgium, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia and Denmark, “electronic equipment (telephones, computers, storage media) and unknown or prescription drugs” were confiscated. The homes of Slovenian manager Milan Erzen, Polish team doctor Piotr Kosielski, French nurse Barnabé Moulin and three drivers were searched, according to the report.
The team kept a low profile in Copenhagen. “We can’t say much more. We would like more details from the investigators to understand what caused the actions. At the moment the team is concentrating as much as possible on the race,” said sporting director Vladimir Miholjevic on Thursday . Questions to the drivers on the subject were not allowed.
Hotel rooms searched by Bahrain-Victorious on Tour of France
Already on Monday there had been searches of the homes of drivers and team members across Europe. The team announced this themselves, but left open where the searches took place and which people were affected. Europol later said the raids took place in three countries.
During the last Tour of France, Bahrain-Victorious’s hotel rooms in the Pyrenees were searched. Cell phones were also confiscated, according to drivers. A result of the investigation is apparently still pending. So far, no official investigation has been initiated against a driver, and no bans have been imposed. Bahrain-Victorious had won the team classification and three stages on the previous tour.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
