Tour of Denmark 2025

Jeremy McCreary

Jeremy McCreary

Bought it anyway
Region
USA
City
Carlsbad, CA
HBO Max is streaming the 5-stage Tour of Denmark with 2 interesting TNT callers. Stage 3 coming up. Replays available.

Mads Pedersen and Jasper Philipsen are probably the biggest names there. Most World Tour teams represented. Also a lot of Danish riders looking to make their mark.

So far, the terrain has been generally flat to gently rolling with a few uncategorized climbs here and there. Little action much of the time, leaving the 2 quite knowledgeable TNT callers time to discuss all facets of European pro racing and journalism.

So one reason to watch, for me at least: It's a real education in racing strategy, rider and team economics, race videography, controversies surrounding the motorcycles and feed zones, reasons for the steady increase in speeds in recent years, etc.

Stage 1 was also interesting for 3 mid-race "local loops" that repeatedly forced the peloton through a very narrow hairpin — flat going in, very steep coming out. This one feature shaped the entire race and led to a very exciting finish.
 
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stompandgo said:
I don't have HBO Max so I'm not watching it. Who are the TNT announcers?
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Haven't heard their names, but not Robbie (former Australian rider who called the TdF). Sounds like one's been a rider and race director.

Good for me because, as you know, I'm still learning how all this works.
 
Chargeride said:
Cant wait for the big climbs, those two shou...oh hang on.
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Yeah, the big Ice Age ice sheets pretty much ground Denmark down to a nub. Still, a lot of nice scenery — especially along the Baltic coast.

No surprise that when they needed to block sideroads onto the course, they just hauled in giant pieces of farm equipment.
 
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Next season, I'm going to have to rethink my streaming strategy. Missing half of the great races isn't a good one. I have the annual Peacock no ads, but we could drop it and go month to month to help pay for Max.
 
stompandgo said:
Next season, I'm going to have to rethink my streaming strategy. Missing half of the great races isn't a good one. I have the annual Peacock no ads, but we could drop it and go month to month to help pay for Max.
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Pretty cheap to sign up for a month of two of racing season coverage then cancel. Tour of Germany's August 20-24 with some heavy hitters signed up. Will overlap 2 days of Vuelta, which starts August 23. Who needs sleep anyway?

Philipsen got 4th in Stage 2 but may not be 100% after his big TdF crash. This really is a cruel and dangerous sport.

The Denmark organizers seem to have less regard for rider safety than usual, and there have been many crashes. That nasty hairpin pinch point on Stage 1's local loop made for exciting watching but put every peloton rider at risk — not once but 3 times!!

IMO, a rider's fate should never depend more on luck and the actions of those around them than on their own skill and W/kg.
 
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Agreed, but "epic" has been prioritized over "challenging". My take is that has been driven by social media and extreme sport involvement from companies like Red Bull. It buys eyeballs. NASCAR, IRL, and F1 are all in with them. Racing keeps getting faster and faster, and even as safety has improved, crashing has become expected. Media motorcycles get close enough to the riders to affect the racing, but the organizers are OK with it because media gets sponsors. Race strategy is based around avoiding crashes rather than maximizing all opportunities. I don't see this changing anytime soon.

The Giro is notorious for dangerous stages.
 
Watching Stage 3, a pan-flat 14.3 km TT. As noted earlier, lots of Danish riders. Seems like half of them have first name Søren, and half of the rest have last name Sørensen.

Sprinter Fabio Jakobsen tried to make a comeback after recent iliac artery surgery — a rather important vessel for a cyclist. Made it through Stages 1-2 but was DNS today. A tragic guy. Bad luck and horrific injuries just seem to follow him around.
 
Stage 4 just passed this very cool mural way out in the middle of farm country:
EE-Denmark-3f-1536x1192.jpg


Per this post on the e2e.bike touring site:
"Coming into Jerlev we were startled to see a giant mural of a racing cyclist on the side of a disused silo. It was painted to celebrate the 2022 Tour de France: the first three days were in Denmark, and Stage 3 came right past here."

Earlier in the same entertaining post:
"A long, sunny day of gently rolling green farmland that took us to the very highest point in Denmark: the lofty summit of Møllehøj, at over 1700m, or 5,577ft.

Oh, sorry, I mean 170m, or 557ft. Yes, that’s as far up as the country gets. In fact, not counting comedy micronations such as the Vatican, it’s got the lowest highest point in all of Europe. There are bridge towers that are higher (on the Great Belt crossing, for instance: the pylons reach 254m, which would be the highest point you can stand in Denmark before getting arrested for trespass)."
 
Pretty good racing in Stage 4, which ended with 3-4 local loops featuring some short but very steep climbs. Epic performance by Dane Mads Pedersen, who left no doubt that he'll be a force to contend with in the upcoming Vuelta.
 
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Yesterday, Mads Pedersen won the GC and his 3rd of 5 stages with very impressive efforts throughout. No mountain stages, of course, but quite a few short, steep climbs that clearly took their toll.

He's said to have his sights on the Vuelta, now just 6 days away. @Rás Cnoic and @stompandgo , with Pogi sitting it out and Vingegaard, Almeida, and Ayuso all in, what are his prospects?
 
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Mads is hugely entertaining, one of my favorites, and I think he is still 2nd in UCI points behind some Slovenian cyclist.

But no way he wins the GC - too many mountains and too many climbers in the Vuelta. He looked invincible in the Giro in the first week too, right up until the first mountain stage.

I'd put money on him for the points classification though.
 
BlackHand said:
I'd put money on him for the points classification though.
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Speaking of betting, my neighbor/riding buddy normally doesn't follow pro cycling, but he does bet on other sports. And his ears perked up when I told him about the 2025 TdF and the upcoming Vuelta.

He plans to put down $50 on something in the Vuelta, still not sure what. Wants me to add $25 to the bet. We'll see.
 
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Jeremy McCreary said:
Yesterday, Mads Pedersen won the GC and his 3rd of 5 stages with very impressive efforts throughout. No mountain stages, of course, but quite a few short, steep climbs that clearly took their toll.

He's said to have his sights on the Vuelta, now just 6 days away. @Rás Cnoic and @stompandgo , with Pogi sitting it out and Vingegaard, Almeida, and Ayuso all in, what are his prospects?
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Denmark - Flat
Spain - Mountains

Tour of Denmark - irrelevant (unless Danish)
La Vuelta - the third & final Grand Tour

We're in the dog days, the post Tour lull. The month where for generations Tour stage winners & yellow jersey holders made their yearly money by racing in evening crits in every small French town - France is on holidays in August and every town has a festival and what better to bring the crowds then to grab the tour winner to race around the houses then fleece the crowds at the local carnival, bars and restaurants. Riders from the 1920s onwards would find a car and a team mechanic/driver and like a band on tour spend the month driving from town to town racing for an hour (often fixed so the locals get to see the star rider cross the line in front) and get an envelope full of cash, split with the mechanic/driver and on to the next town. Denmark Poland and I think Hungary all have week long tours in this month but really nobody other than the locals is watching. The only one that seems like it might get more international traction is the Norwegian Arctic Tour - possibly because of novelty value way up there- interesting landscapes.

The only big races left in the calendar now are the Vuelta, the Worlds, The Grand Prix De Montreal & Grand Prix Quebec- the only Pro races in North America that mean anything, and finally the last Monument of the year Il Lomardia, the Race of The Falling Leaves. They'll all turn up for that one. Then it's cross season and much mulling and planning for '26.

Haven't checked which country & city the Worlds are this year. Like the Olympic RR it's often a very long gruelling slugfest. Big miles, loads of energy sapping hills and team tactics are wild as everyone races for country not team. The Olympics doesn't allow team radio, not sure about the worlds but it's always chaotic and frequently wet due to late August/Sept thunderstorms.
 
All the details are here. It's in Rwanda, South Africa. The main course as 15km with two short, around 1km climbs. The Women, Junior, and U23 stay on this circuit for 8, 8, and 11 circuits. The Men have two additional circuits for a total of about 267km. I read through the special regulations, and I saw no restrictions on radios. One team car per team is allowed, so it's safe to assume that radios are also allowed.
 
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