Tour de France supremo opens new 31 km cycling super-highway linking capital with Roskilde

Fully 100 days ahead of the big race starting in Copenhagen, its general director Christian Prudhomme gave the signal for a peloton of cyclists to leave the Zealand town for City Hall, where the Grand Départ trophy can now be seen

Armelle Delmelle

Mar 24, 2022

Yesterday marked 100 days until the start of the Tour de France, which is for the first time in history starting in Denmark. Ahead of the Grand Départ, Wednesday’s celebrations concerned the inauguration of a 31 km cycle path: one of the country’s so-called cycling super-highways.

The new Roskilderuten passes through the municipalities of Roskilde, Høje-Taastrup, Albertslund, Glostrup, Brøndby, Rødovre, Frederiksberg and Copenhagen. The honour of officially opening the new path was given to none other than the general director of the race, Christian Prudhomme.

Under Prudhomme’s signal a peloton of cyclists left Roskilde carrying the official Grand Départ trophy along Roskilderuten to Copenhagen City Hall, where it will be displayed for the public to see. Previously, it sat with Région Bretagne, the last ‘region’ to host the Grand Départ.

Danes cycling habits in the light
“The Tour de France has come to Denmark because we are a strong everyday cycling country. The event is an opportunity to focus on everyday cycling heroes and what we can be proud of in Denmark,” explained Sidsel Birk Hjuler, the head of the secretariat for the Super Cycling Partnership.

The Roskilde route is the country’s 11th super-highway, plotted like the others to suit the needs of commuters. It passes train and Metro stations, as well as planned light rail stops, so users can easily combine with other means of transport.

Five new super-highways in 2022
“Our vision is to create more than 60 routes covering over 850 km with the super-highways, which will become a network covering the whole of the capital region. We can already see that cycling traffic is increasing significantly on the established routes,” added Hjuler.

In addition to the new Roskilde route, cyclists can look forward to four more super-highways in the capital area in 2022: Avedørerruten, Københavnerruten, Ørestadsruten and Lyngbyruten.

The super-highways are more direct than existing routes and of a higher quality. Overall, 31 municipalities are involved. The target of 850 km should be in reach by 2045.