PostNord Tour of Denmark to start on country's 'Sunshine Island' for first time

The island of Bornholm lies in the Baltic Sea, southeast of Scania, which Denmark ceded to Sweden in 1658. This means that the island is somewhat isolated from the rest of the country; the locals speak a distinctive, melodious dialect, and Bornholm even has its own flag, replacing the white cross of the Danish flag with a green cross on a red background.

Bornholm is a popular holiday destination, not least because it gets the most hours of sunshine in Denmark, inspiring the island’s nickname of ‘Sunshine Island’. The fastest and most convenient way to reach Bornholm from the rest of Denmark is in fact the ferry from Ystad in Sweden.

“The logistics are difficult, that’s why we’ve never been there before. But we have a very good cooperation with the ferry company Bornholmslinjen and the local authorities on the island, and together, we have made a very good plan,” said Kasler.

In 2014, the Post Cup (now Bording Cup), the highest-level competition in Danish domestic cycling, held one of its five races on the island, and Bornholm’s best cyclist, the then 21-year-old Magnus Cort, won the uphill sprint in Gudhjem, and has had the nickname ‘kong Cort’ (‘king Cort’ and a pun on the Concorde) ever since.

11 years later, Cort is back on his home island hoping to win the stage and take the yellow jersey. But Cort won’t be the only local hero. Out of a population of just under 39,000, two more Bornholm natives line up in Nexø: Emil Toudal (Team Coloquick) and Asger Røjbek Sørensen, racing for BHS-PL Beton Bornholm.

Røjbek Sørensen and his teammates will be certain to feature in every breakaway attempt, and with Niklas Larsen, a former winner of the Tour of Denmark, the team has one of the strongest riders on the Danish domestic circuit who could place very high on the stage or, who knows, maybe even snatch victory from the pros.

But first, riders, staff, and race officials needed to get to the island. All things considered, the race needs to get about 500 people to Bornholm for stage 1 – and onwards to the rest of Denmark afterwards.

“We have staggered the arrivals over two days. Some officials and teams arrived on Sunday already; others arrive on Monday. Several teams come directly from the Tour de Pologne. And after the stage, we’ll send everything across to Copenhagen on a ferry Tuesday night,” explained Kasler.

“They will be at the hotel on Zealand around midnight, and stage 2 starts at 3 pm. There were talks about a plane transfer, but then we’d have to put all riders on a plane, and we just don’t have the budget for that,” Kasler said.

The stage starts in Nexø on the island’s east coast and finishes in the island capital of Rønne, right next to the ferry port, after 178km. Given that Bornholm is only about 30 kilometres across, the route twists and turns to take in almost every road on the rocky northern half of the island.

“My security manager, David Rasmussen, has a summer house on Bornholm, and I’ve listened to local input, but I’ve also been there myself and scouted the area. We want to show Denmark and the whole world what Bornholm has to offer. I’m certain that it will be a fantastic race,” said Kasler.

Many people consider Denmark to be flat, but in fact, it’s more accurate to say the country is (relatively) low. The rolling hills make for ideal racing terrain, and Bornholm, with its granite core dropping steeply to the sea, offers some of the hardest climbs in Denmark. There will be hardly any flat on stage 1, and over 20 short climbs mean that there’s never time to take a breather.

“Foreign riders often get a big surprise on the Vejle stage. The last 100km there is a mini Tour of Flanders, and it will be along the same lines on Bornholm. It’s almost 1800 altitude metres, and we’re doing three laps of a circuit around Helligpeder. It’s a very narrow road, and then it’s a 90-degree turn into the climb, so riders will have to slow right down,” Kasler described the Molenberg-like climb.

“From there, it’s only 19km to the finish. For the first time since I started working at the race almost 25 years ago, there will be no finishing circuit, it’s straight to the finish from Helligpeder. That route invites attacks from further out,” Kasler expressed his hopes for an exciting final.

After the ferry transfer and the late arrival at the hotels around Copenhagen, stage 2 has deliberately been planned to be an easier day with a later start.

“The idea was to have an easy stage on the second day, so it’s only 111km, a sprint stage from Rødovre to Gladsaxe,” said Kasler.

The third stage will be a 14.3km individual time trial held in Kerteminde, a town on Funen that has hosted the Tour of Denmark several times before. The ITT will sort the GC before the queen stage from Svendborg to Vejle, an almost-continuous up-and-down finishing with the well-known circuit that includes Koldingvej and Kiddesvej in quick succession.

“The Vejle stage isn’t quite as hard as it has been in the past, but it’s very long at 227km. It’s definitely the most important day for the GC,” Kasler said.

The Tour of Denmark will be the last pro race for Jakob Fuglsang, racing for the Danish national team, and on Saturday, the 40-year-old will have the privilege of finishing his career in his hometown of Silkeborg after a stage that suits him quite well.

“There are several hills before we reach Silkeborg, and that will tire out the peloton. And this year, we have decided to put the finish line at the top of the Hvinningdalvej climb. If the GC is close going into the final stage, there could be gaps there, and it might change the overall podium,” Kasler explained.

After the Tour of Denmark, some riders will travel down the Jutland peninsula to Hamburg, where the ADAC Cyclassics are held on Sunday.