First the capital, then the home town: After the frenetic reception in Copenhagen, the Danish tour winner Jonas Vingegaard was also received with great acclaim in his Jutland homeland.
Thousands of people lined the streets of Glyngøre as the 25-year-old professional cyclist slowly drove through the small fishing village in the family car with his girlfriend Trine and daughter Frida. Some people cycled behind the car – two police officers in the front row.
Glyngøre has almost 1,400 inhabitants – on Thursday, according to the local broadcaster TV2 Nord, more than 20,000 people in the village were on their feet to see the winner of the Tour de France. At the central celebration at the local stadium, Vingegaard thanked the assembled crowd, many of whom wore yellow T-shirts or waved red and white Denmark flags. Later, among other things, a fireworks display was planned in his honor.
“It was a fantastic reception,” Vingegaard had previously told broadcaster DR when he first stopped at the town’s care center at his own request. “We’re almost neighbors and they’re an important part of Glyngøre. And they support me all the time,” said the tour winner of the center’s residents.
The Danish capital Copenhagen had given Vingegaard an enthusiastic welcome the day before. From the balcony of Copenhagen City Hall, he looked down on a sea of cheering people. Later, the celebrations continued at Tivoli Amusement Park. Vingegaard was the second Dane to win the Tour de France after Bjarne Riis on Sunday. He rounded off a Danish-influenced tour – this year it had started with three stages in Denmark for the first time.