A partnership consisting of the Ministry of Business, the City of Copenhagen and the Municipalities of Roskilde, Nyborg, Vejle and Sønderborg have concluded an agreement with the company behind the Tour de France concerning the Grand Départ in Denmark in 2021.
On 2, 3 and 4 July 2021, Denmark will host three stages of the Tour de France under the headline “Grand Départ Copenhagen - Denmark”. The Grand Départ will be a 13 kilometres time trial in central Copenhagen.
2 ½ years ago, Denmark officially presented its offer to host the Grand Départ. During the process, the royal family, the Danish government, the municipalities and regions, Wonderful Copenhagen and Sport Event Denmark have worked determinedly to get the cycling race to Denmark.
Since the beginning of the project more than three years ago, Horten has been the legal adviser to the consortium behind Denmark’s offer to host the Tour de France. Horten’s team has advised on the organisation of the cooperation, the legal basis of the municipalities’ involvement in the project, the articles of the joint partnership and the governing structure thereby creating the legal framework of the “Grand Départ Copenhagen - Denmark”. In addition, our team has been responsible for the negotiation of the agreement with the French company A.S.O., which owns the rights to the Tour de France.
The assignment to create the framework of a Danish Grand Départ is based on Horten’s many years of experience organising assignments for the State in connection with large-scale projects, for instance the formation of HOFOR (a merger between eight municipal supply utilities, the establishment of DOT between DSV, Movia and Metroselskabet, the establishment of common emergency services and, most recently, the conversion of growth centres into business centres.
Horten has also assisted ensuring a solid legal framework of the music festival Tinderbox and the finals of the world’s largest e-sports tournament - ESL Pro League - on behalf of the City of Odense. In addition, Horten is the legal adviser of the City of Copenhagen in connection with the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship where Copenhagen is hosting the tournament together with 11 other European cities.