Tour de France start country Denmark - road bike tours in Copenhagen and on Zealand
Sven Bremer
· 02.07.2022
Copenhagen, in Danish "København" (where the "ø" is pronounced like "ö" and the "havn" like "haun"), is not only Denmark's capital, but also the largest city in the smallest Scandinavian country with a population of just under 640,000 and its economic and cultural centre. Around 1.3 million people live in the greater Copenhagen area (Hoved- stadsområdet); Denmark as a whole has a population of just over 5.8 million. Copenhagen is located in the east of the island of Zealand (Danish "Sjælland") and has been connected to Malmö in Sweden by the Öresund Bridge across the strait of the same name since 2000. With an area of around 7,000 square kilometres, Zealand is the largest of the many Danish islands.
Whilst the professionals only have a short time trial in Copenhagen at the start of this year's Tour de France, two of our tours start from there. The second stage of the Tour de France crosses Zealand once from east to west, finishing in Nyborg on the island of Funen - two of our tours pass through the same region.
Sensational cycling infrastructure in Denmark
Copenhagen's little home circuit, around the Amager peninsula, is extremely flat. The tour to the north of the Danish capital is probably best described as undulating to hilly, and the same applies to the two laps on Zealand - the three routes, which are around one hundred kilometres long, each have an elevation gain of around 500 metres. There is usually a comfortable cycle path along slightly larger country roads, but most of the kilometres are on secondary roads with little traffic. Due to the sensational infrastructure for cyclists, road cycling in Copenhagen itself - after all, you need a few kilometres to reach the countryside - cannot be compared with the stress you usually experience in big cities: absolutely world class!
Racing cyclists should not miss this!
Copenhagen
The city is full of sights that can be found in any travel guide: The Little Mermaid (which is really tiny), Tivoli, the castles of the Danish royal family or the beautiful but very touristy Nyhavn. The Refsaleøen peninsula is exciting, not only because of the food mile, but also because of the galleries - and as you drive past, you can take a look at the world-famous opera house and the menu of the equally famous restaurant "Noma". Interesting is the Design Museum Danmarkwhich reopened in summer 2022 following renovation work. You can get a good insight into the diverse modern architecture in and around Copenhagen on a special guided architecture tour, which can be booked at www.scaledenmark.dk
Professional race
This year the PostNord Danmark Rundt will take place from 16 to 20 August. The first stage leads across the island of Zealand. In 2021, one of the five stages led from Hølbæk to Kalundborg - partly on roads from our Tours 3 and 4.
Bike service
Copenhagen
Fri Bike Shop
Phone 0045/69692100
Fri BikeShop is a chain with many branches nationwide; our contact Rasmus doesn't recommend all of them in Copenhagen, but the shop on Østerbrogade in the Østerbro neighbourhood. Since Corona, the shops have been getting too few road bikes to rent out. Ask for them!
A H Cycler (west of the main railway station),. Telephone 0045/36893800.
Baisiskeli (right by the railway, south of the central station), phone 0045/26700229.
If you don't fancy riding your own racing bike through Copenhagen, you can find various city bike models as well as touring bikes and cargo bikes here. Baisiskeli means "bicycle" in the African Swahili language. The company finances various projects in Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Ghana with the rental bikes.
Kalundborg
Fri Bike Shop
Phone 0045/59510306
Hølbæk
Fri Bike Shop, telephone 0045/46368333.
Tølløse (south of Holbæk), telephone 0045/59468000.
If you're lucky, you'll be served by the 2019 road world champion in this small town. Mads Pedersen has opened a cycling shop in his home town, although it is run by his father.
Our tours
Tour 1: Farmland and Öresund (106 kilometres | 500 metres in altitude | max. 5 % gradient)
From Nordhavn, it's a few kilometres out of the city on well-maintained cycle paths, then along the motorway to Farum, before it gets rural and "hyggelig". North of Copenhagen, the route is undulating and leads through pretty farmland. On the way back, you cycle along the beach path by the Baltic Sea, past the swanky and sometimes beautiful villas and palaces of Denmark's top ten thousand.
Tour 2: After-work tour (49 kilometres | 70 metres in altitude | max. 2 % gradient)
The tour around the Amager peninsula is the short home circuit of Copenhagen's racing cyclists. We start at Café Palmarès at Nordhavn, the locals like to meet at the Radisson Blu Hotel (Amager, Boulevard 70). The route quickly takes you out of the city and along the Baltic Sea for a while, with the pretty town of Dragør a good place to stop off before heading back into the city.
Tour 3: Zealand and the sea (97 kilometres | 400 metres in altitude | max. 10 % gradient)
From Kalundborg, we cycle past grain fields, potato fields and through sleepy villages to Lake Tissø, part of the Åmosen Nature Park. From there to the coast and the Reersø peninsula, where we turn around at the harbour and ride via Bjerge onto national road 22, which leads to Kalundborg and on which the professionals will race in the opposite direction during the Tour de France. After a worthwhile detour with a sea view to the headland south of Kalundborg, we return to the start on the cycle path (Røsnæsruten).
Tour 4: World champion territory (113 kilometres | 500 vertical metres | max. 6% gradient)
From Hølbæk, we cycle on the same road as the Tour de France peleton, but in the opposite direction. After Særløse, it gets really pretty on small roads in the Skjoldungernes Land National Park. After Tølløse, the birthplace of professional cyclist Mads Pedersen, you can really pick up the pace on the slightly undulating terrain before you have to overcome a few small crests on the way to the UNESCO Global Geopark Odsherred. Back with a view over the Hølbæk Fjord to the small town that gives the park its name.
