More than 10,000 cycling fans celebrated the riders of the 109th Tour de France at the team presentation in Copenhagen. Under the eyes of Crown Prince Frederik and with music by the pop band Lukas Graham, there was a folk festival atmosphere in the amusement park Tivoli.
Especially the Danish pros Jakob Fuglsang and Jonas Vingegaard were enthusiastically celebrated. Last year’s second Vingegaard sometimes had tears in his eyes.
“I’ve never felt such energy,” said four-time Tour winner Chris Froome. The experienced German professional John Degenkolb was also impressed: “I haven’t experienced such a blatant atmosphere for a long time. The atmosphere here was really special.” All in all, the team presentation at the finish of the first stage lasted around 90 minutes. The 109th tour starts on July 1st in the afternoon with an individual time trial over 13.2 kilometers.