Former Danish cycling star Bjarne Riis is disappointed not to have been invited to this year’s Tour de France start in Copenhagen.
“Of course I’m upset about not being there. That’s what I was hoping for,” the 1996 Tour de France winner told Danish broadcaster TV2 Sport. “Unfortunately it shouldn’t be like that. That’s life. I have nothing more to say about it.” The organizers pointed out in an email to the broadcaster that they had prioritized inviting official representatives such as mayors, members of the government and representatives of the royal family to the tour events instead of Danish athletes.
In the Danish capital of Copenhagen, the 109th Tour begins on Friday with an individual time trial. Two more stages in Denmark follow at the weekend before the tour moves on to France.
Riis, who is now 58 years old, is the only Scandinavian professional cyclist to date to have won the Tour in 1996 for Team Telekom. At that time he was considered a sports hero in Denmark. In 2007 he admitted doping.
At the time, he shocked the tour guide with the sentences that his yellow jersey was in a cardboard box in the garage at home, that the organizers would be happy to pick it up there. According to TV2, he apologized to tour director Christian Prudhomme via SMS for this comment two years ago.