"Bonjour le Tour" - best advertising for the bicycle, the sport of cycling and the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017

Spring, bicycle, trip to France: On Saturday, 25 March, the heart of the Old Town of Düsseldorf beat to the rhythm of the Tour de France, the Grand Départ 2017 of which is to be held in Düsseldorf from 28 June to 2 July. Under the title "Bonjour le Tour", the state capital celebrated its 100-day event on the occasion of the start of the world-famous cycling event. With perfect spring weather, practically everything in the great action programme revolved around the bicycle, which was also the case at the "Nacht der Museen" (museums night), which formed the culmination of the action day in the evening. An exciting mixture of sport, art, culture and attractions got the visitors into the mood for the Grand Départ in Düsseldorf.

"The action day 'Bonjour le Tour' was the best advertising for the bicycle as a practical and environmentally friendly means of transport, and for cycling as a sport and the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017. From the children’s cycling competition 'Petit Départ', to the presentation of the new cycling route 'Tour :D France' to the many actions and attractions around the town hall - Düsseldorf presented itself from one of its most attractive and likeable sides, and roused real anticipation for the start of the Tour de France in the summer. Special thanks go to all the protagonists who have contributed to the success of the great action day", explained the Mayor Thomas Geisel.

Tour air blew around Düsseldorf’s town hall
Düsseldorf’s town hall was the centre of the action day "Bonjour le Tour". Mayor Thomas Geisel and Tour Director Christian Prudhomme officially opened the 100-day event on the stage at Marktplatz. "We are delighted that this great sporting event, that is so deeply rooted in the DNA of our European neighbour France, is to be held in Düsseldorf", said Mayor Geisel, and Tour Director Prudhomme stressed: "The Franco-German friendship is very important to us. So we’re delighted to be guests in Germany again after 30 years - and in such a beautiful city as Düsseldorf."

Hordes of visitors flowed over Marktplatz to enjoy the French flair with culinary specialties, wine and sunshine, and to marvel at the actions around the theme of "cycling". Based on the traditional total number of the Tour stages, 21 stands on Marktplatz, Zollstraße and Rathausufer made it possible to scent plenty of Tour air, to test your own fitness and to gather information all about the Grand Départ.

French flair, attractions and hands-on activities
At the stands of the Tour office, you could find out about the route and the supporting programme. In front of the town hall there were plenty of hands-on activities. In this way, the Tour partners - the Düsseldorf trade fair and municipal utilities - presented themselves in front of the town hall; here, for example, visitors could operate a slot car racing track by means of vigorous pedalling.

Anyone who always wanted to follow in the tracks of the pros and experience the route themselves could do so at the virtual roadshow. The community sports association offered thrill seekers the opportunity to challenge their own mountains classification on the climbing wall or to put their performance to the test on the exercise bikes of the sports office. At the "All Kids" stand, children were able to give free rein to their creativity or have bicycles painted onto their faces.

The Rheinbahn was represented at Rathausufer with its popular children’s tram. This was also the place to go for anyone wanting information on the public transport. With Tissot and Skoda, important sponsors of the Tour organiser A.S.O. were represented.

Zollstraße was entirely dedicated to the theme of art. Together with visitors, the artist Claudia Seidensticker from the association Krass designed a unique "Radschlag-T(o)urm" (Bike Tou(we)r) out of old innertubes. Past sound sculptures along the Rheinuferpromenade it went on. Here, six hosts of stages of the Tour were guests: Liège, Verviers, Haute-Saône, S. de Provence, Peyragude and Troyes provided for small delicacies and spread some savoir vivre.

As a special highlight, a huge Lego Eiffel Tower – as colourful as the world itself - decorated Marktplatz. The Düsseldorfer Johannes Buchwald recreated the landmark of the French capital in around 100 hours from around 22,000 bricks. The Lego Eiffel Tower represents its larger counterpart on a scale of 1:100. It is therefore 3.24 metres high, 1.25 metres wide and 1.25 deep. The countdown clock at Burgplatz also attracted many onlookers.

Several walk acts were out and about in the entire old town and entertained the guests in a diversity of ways. Visitors were able to cross paths with an entire orchestra on a giant tandem. The clown "Lange Gust" amused the bystanders with his mischief, and "Jochen", the little elephant on the tricycle, delighted the young guests. The herd of machines - futuristic animals constructed from numerous bicycles - was particularly impressive.

Big stage programme in front of the town hall
The stage program in front of the town hall also set the tone for the Tour: The Mayor Thomas Geisel, Mayor Günter Karen-Jungen, Christian Prudhomme, the City Manager Burkhard Hintzsche and Bärbel Diekmann, the President of the German charity Welthungerhilfe, spoke about the Grand Départ in Düsseldorf in public discussions. The German Welthungerhilfe presented the Fairplay-Tour in which young people ride their bikes to earn donations. Some of them then performed a choreography on unicycles to their own Tour song. The group "Pralinchen" (little chocolates), surprisingly made up of three grown men, gave musical expression to their pleasure about the Grand Départ with their Tour anthem "Düsseldorfer Tour-Hymne" and thus built a musical bridge from Königsallee to the Champs-Élysées.

The colourful world of bicycles
The bicycle was also presented in all its facets: unicyclists, artistic cyclists and cycle-ball players, also from the Düsseldorf club "Frisch auf", demonstrated their skills. The duo "Cycling Circus" held spectators in suspense with their dizzying artistry. Members of the cycling club Allgemeine Deutschen Fahrrad-Clubs Düsseldorf (ADFC) demonstrated the colourful world of wheels, from the cargo bike to the recumbent bike. The drum group Tahougan e. V. provided rousing bass sounds. The Dutch brass band "Fietsorkest" caused quite a sensation, curving through the streets and making music on a six-seater bicycle. The stage programme was brought to a close at 6pm by the famous boogie woogie pianist Sascha Klaar.

"Nacht der Museen" (museums night) and the fascination "Tour" in the town hall
The big day of action "Bonjour le Tour" for the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017 culminated in the "Nacht der Museen" (museums night). Among other things, in the town hall, the original racing bike of the previous year’s winner and triple champion of the Tour Christopher Froome, who rode this bike to victory in 2015, and a work by the photographic artist Andreas Gursky with the title "Andreas Gursky, Tour de France II, 2016" were on display.

"Bonjour le Tour" - anticipation throughout Düsseldorf
Throughout Düsseldorf, numerous institutions took part in the action programme: at the starting line were the great bicycle flea market in the "postPOST - Grand Central", the trade fair "Cyclingworld Düsseldorf", the NRW-Forum with the free Bike Sharing Initiative "Free Bikes" and the Institut français with a photo exhibition on the theme of "cycling as a sport".