Astana Cycling Team

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After the positive experience of Holland 2010, next year's race starts in Herning, in the heart of Jutland. There are 3 stages proposed for the country where everyone cycles.

photo from Gazzetto dello Sport.it

HERNING (Denmark), 1 April 2011 - And then there were ten. In 2012 the Giro will once again start abroad, with Denmark this time embracing the 'pink caravan'. Just two years after a million people transformed the Grande Partenza in Amsterdam into one big party, the 2012 Gazzetta race starts from Herning (population 58,000) in the heart of Jutland, the peninsula that sticks out into the North Sea. The race will start with a 9km time-trial, followed by two days of sprints, as is the custom with these foreign starts. On Sunday 6th March, the 200km second stage also starts and finishes in Herning, the city where Bjarne Riis the Contador team manager was born. On the third and final day the town of Horsens (pop. 56,000), to the east of Herning, will host the start and finish of the 180-200km 3rd stage, before the race moves on to Italy.

photo from Gazzetta dello Sport.it

GLOBALISATION — "After the exciting experience of Amsterdam and Holland, we are convinced that the 3 days in Denmark will represent another milestone in the globalisation of the Giro," said Angelo Zomegnan, Cycling Director of Rcs Sport. He was accompanied by the CEO of Rcs, Giacomo Catano, Mauro Vegni the Operations Director of all the Gazzetta races, and Lorenzo Giorgetti, the Commercial Director. This morning the contracts were signed with the Danish authorities live on TV, witnessed by the Mayor Lars Krarup, who heads up all the initiatives aimed at transforming Denmark into a 'pink nation'. Why Herning? Because this is the heart of cycling in Denmark, an area of great passion for the bicycle, and a great tradition of organising big, international events. The city had applied to be the race start as long ago as 1988. This nation of 5 million inhabitants and almost double the number of bicycles will become the centre of the cycling world over the next few months. At the end of September the capital Copenhagen hosts the World Cup, at which 400,000 spectators are expected. Then in May 2012, Jutland hosts the Giro. These will be the two most important sporting events in the country's history, and Denmark will also be reaching out towards the other nations where cycling is a religion, Norway (where they went crazy for Thor Hushovd's World Title), Sweden, and most of all Germany. And Hamburg is only three hours' drive away.

NATION OF CYCLISTS — The President of the Danish Cycling Federation, Tom Lund, enthused, "Ours is a nation that moves around by bicycle. We will be invaded by thousands of people from all over Northern Europe." And it's not just Denmark. The Giro will become central for the whole of Scandanavia. It was the city of San Marino in 1965 that became the first on the list of foreign starts. Then in 1966 it was Monte Carlo, Verviers (Belgium) in 1973, the Vatican City in 1974, Athens (for the 100th anniversaries of both the Olympics and the Gazzetta dello Sport in 1996, Nice (France, Garibaldi's birthplace) in 1988, Groningen (Holland) in 2002, Seraing (Belgium) in 2006, and Amsterdam in 2010, where for the first time the Giro passed in view of the North Sea. Denmark is the 10th stage of this special foreign course. Washington (USA) should have been the venue for the 2012 start, but that was postponed due to the need for more time to organise the complicated logistics.

Giro d' Italia 2010 3th stage Amsterdam - photo: Bettini

From Venaria to the North Sea — Denmark has also chalked-up another first. Never before has a big race been started so far North. The previous record was the Tour de France of 1998 which started in Dublin. The pink race breaks another frontier and presents itself in an ever-more international dimension. In addition, the figures are notable. As well as the 2,000-2,500 people following the race who will be travelling, eating, and sleeping in a different place every night, the Giro will generate a turnover of 500 million Euro, be seen on TV in 160 countries on 5 continents, and bring 10 million people out onto the streets of Italy. In May, the word 'Giro' is amongst the most searched-for words on sites like Yahoo and Google. The 2010 race was voted the 'best course in the world' by Cyclingnews, the English website which is considered the number one for cycling internationally. In 38 days, the 2011 edition, which marks the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy, starts from Reggia di Venaria Reale (Turin). On Saturday 29th of May there is a time-trial in Milan. The Giro is 102 years old, but is still a formidable ambassador of the best Italian values. And even Denmark may fall in love with it.