Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
stage race
A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages ...
for professional
road bicycle racer
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...
s organized as a part of the
UCI Continental Circuits
The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...
. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency,
PostNord
PostNord AB is a provider of postal services operating mainly in the Nordic countries. The company was formed on 24 June 2009, under the name ''Posten Norden'', as the holding company in a merger between the Danish and Swedish postal service pro ...
, and the race is therefore also known as PostNord Danmark Rundt. The 2019 edition had 20 teams, with 6 riders each, participating in 5
stages
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* S ...
. The race is sometimes called the Tour of Denmark in
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
media.
Course
Traditionally, the race starts off on the Jutland peninsula and ends on the island of Zealand - on Frederiksberg Allé in Copenhagen. Since 2004, one of the stages has included the steep street Kiddesvej in the city of Vejle. It's this hilly stage and the time trial that usually determine who will win the general classification.
History
The race was first run yearly from 1985 to 1988 and, after a break of 7 years, from 1995 onwards. It attracts approximately half a million spectators on the road.
After no less than five second places overall, including twice before the race hiatus of 1989–1994,
Rolf Sørensen
Rolf Sørensen (born 20 April 1965) is a former Danish professional road bicycle racer. He is currently working as a cycling commentator and agent. Born in Helsinge in Denmark, Sørensen moved to Italy at the age of 17, where he has lived since ...
finally secured overall victory in his home race in 2000.
In
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
it was won by
Kurt Asle Arvesen
Kurt Asle Arvesen (born 9 February 1975) is a Norwegian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1998 and 2011. Arvesen is from Eresfjord, Nesset. He won the Norwegian National Road Race Championships five tim ...
, after his teammate
Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt (; born 17 September 1971) is a German former professional road bicycle racer and, upon retirement, became a cycling sports broadcast commentator. During his cycling career, Voigt raced for several teams, the last one being UCI ProTe ...
let him win an intermediate sprint, so Arvesen finished 2 seconds ahead in the overall classification. In
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso (born 26 November 1977) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1999 and 2015 for seven different teams. Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, was considered among the best mountain riders in ...
of
Team CSC
Tinkoff () was a Russian-registered professional cycling team from Russia and previously Denmark. It competed in the UCI World Tour. The team was owned by Russian Oleg Tinkov and, from 1999 until March 2015, was managed by former Tour de France w ...
, coming off the
2005 Tour de France
The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 2–24 July, with 21 stages covering a distance . It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong origin ...
as the overall runner-up, totally dominated the race, and won overall as well as 4 out of 6 stages. Since the race was run at the same time as the
UCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, e ...
race
Eneco Tour
The Benelux Tour (previously known as the Eneco Tour and the BinckBank Tour) is a road bicycle racing stage-race that is part of the UCI World Tour. The race was established in 2005 and was originally known as the Eneco Tour, named after the orig ...
, only three UCI ProTour teams participated.
In
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
, the race was won by
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began r ...
of CSC ahead of
Stuart O'Grady
Stuart O'Grady (born 6 August 1973) is a retired Australian professional road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 1995 and 2013. A former track cyclist, O'Grady and Graeme Brown won a gold medal in the Men's Madison at the 2004 S ...
, also of CSC and in 2007 Kurt Asle Arvesen returned to win for the second time, being the first in history to do so, and giving Team CSC its 4th consecutive win. In 2008
Jakob Fuglsang
Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (born 22 March 1985) is a Danish professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Before turning professional for , he was a mountain biker racing for Team Cannondale–Vredestein, winning the Under ...
from
Team Designa Køkken
Team ColoQuick () is a UCI Continental team founded in 2008 and based in Denmark. It participates in UCI Continental Circuits races.
Team roster
Major wins
;2008
: Rogaland Grand Prix, Michael Tronborg
: Prologue, Stage ...
became the first Dane to win since 2002. In 2009 he became the first rider to win the race two years in a row before going on to win for a third consecutive year in
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
. Fuglsang was succeeded by Australian rider
Simon Gerrans
Simon Gerrans (born 16 May 1980) is an Australian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018, for the , , , , and squads. Post-retirement he initially worked as an athlete intern at Goldman Sachs in L ...
in
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
,
Lieuwe Westra
Lieuwe Westra (born 11 September 1982) is a Dutch former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2016 for the KrolStonE Continental Team, and teams.
Professional career
Born in Mûnein), Westra finished second at ...
in
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
and
Wilco Kelderman
Wilco Kelderman (born 25 March 1991) is a Dutch professional road bicycle racer who rides for UCI WorldTeam .
Professional career
Born in Amersfoort, Kelderman finished in seventh position in the general classification of the 2014 Giro d'Italia ...
in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
.
The
2014 Danmark Rundt
The 2014 Post Danmark Rundt was a men's road bicycle race held from 6 August to 10 August 2014. It was the 24th edition of the men's stage race, which was established in 1985. The race was rated as a 2.HC event and formed part of the 2014 UCI Eur ...
was won by Danish rider
Michael Valgren
Michael Valgren Hundahl (né Andersen; born 7 February 1992) is a Danish professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . In 2018, Valgren won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Amstel Gold Race.
Career
He became a profession ...
of the team. The 2015 edition was planned to start on 4 August 2014, with the first stage scheduled to begin in Struer and end in
Holstebro
Holstebro is the main town in Holstebro Municipality, Denmark. The town, bisected by ''Storåen'' ("The Large Creek") and has a population of 36,489 (1 January 2022).Ruten til Post Danmark Rundt 2015 Danmarks Cykle Union. Retrieved 15 July 2015. The
2015 Danmark Rundt
The 2015 Danmark Rundt was a men's road bicycle race which was held from 4 August to 8 August 2015. It was the 25th edition of the stage race, which was established in 1985. The race was rated as a 2.HC event and formed part of the 2015 UCI Europe ...
was won by Danish rider
Christopher Juul-Jensen
Christopher Juul-Jensen (born 6 July 1989) is a Danish bicycle racing, racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam .
Juul-Jensen grew up in Ireland, living in County Wicklow until the age of 16. He became the Danish national time trial ...
of the team.
Winners by year
Podium positions
Secondary classifications
Various secondary competitions have been held over the years.
*In 1985, 1986 and 1987 the competition was for riders under 23 years, in 1988 the bar was raised to 24 years, and in 2000 and later editions, it has been for riders born in or after (race year) - 25 years (i.e. in 2000 they had to be born in or after 1975).
Other classifications
In addition to the five competitions above, in all editions except the 1985 and 1995 ones, a fighter competition was held.
Former classifications
*Until 2000, a sprint competition was held.
*In 1987 and 1988 a "Best Dane" competition was held.
*In 1995, a "Best Amateur" competition was held.
Winners by nation
A complete list over overall winners by nation of the Post Danmark Rundt.
Most stage wins
A list of the riders with the most stage wins in the Post Danmark Rundt.
Classifications
As of the 2018 edition, the jerseys worn by the leaders of the individual classifications are:
* Blue Jersey – Worn by the leader of the general classification.
* Green Jersey – Worn by the leader of the points classification.
* Polkadot Jersey – Worn by the leader of the climber classification.
* White Jersey – Worn by the best rider under 23 years of age on the overall classification.