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Danish stars ready to take back cycling title
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August 7th, 2014
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Interest in the race is higher than ever before, race head contends
Team Tinkoff-Saxo stars Michael Mørkøv and Chris Anker Sørensen, Jacob Fuglsang of Astana and Lars Bak from Lotto-Belisol are among the Danish heavyweights ready to compete in Denmark’s biggest cycle race next week, Post Danmark Rundt.
The race hasn’t had a Danish winner since Fuglsang won it three times in a row between 2008 and 2010, although Bak came agonizingly close last year finishing second just six seconds behind Dutch winner Wilco Kelderman. The Danes are eager to win it back.
“It may be that we’ll see a foreigner win it, but we have all the Danish stars in this year’s Post Danmark Rundt,” Jesper Worre, the head of the race and former head of the Danish cycling union, DCU, told DR Nyheder.
Former Danish winners of Post Danmark Rundt include Worre himself in 1986, Bjarne Riis (1995) and Rolf Sørensen (2000), while international winners of note include Tyler Hamilton (1999), Ivan Basso (2005) and Fabian Cancellara (2006).
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Moving in the right direction
Worre is excited about the race this year and is looking forward to see the Danish stars and young talents such as Magnus Cort, who recently agreed to ride for the World Tour team Orica-GreenEDGE from 2015, and Rasmus Guldhammer in action.
Danish cycling looks to be moving in the right direction, exemplified by the 2012 Giro d’Italia starting off in Denmark for its first three stages before moving to Italy. There has been more attention and interest surrounding Post Danmark Rundt too.
“Public and media interest is constantly increasing and next year will be the 25 edition of the race and we hope that we can have direct TV transmission then. So it’s definitely moving in the right direction,” Worre told the Copenhagen Post.
The race, which begins in Hobro in Jutland on August 6 and finishes up in Copenhagen four days later on August 10, is part of UCI’s Continental Circuit and consists of six stages.
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