"Flower pictures", Radstation, construction hoarding, banners, flags and cartwheelers advertise the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017

A good 30 days before the start of the Tour de France in the state capital, the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017 is becoming visible at more and more places.

Alongside the Grand Départ flags (one of them, for example, is on the building of the main station), the yellow bicycles on the flower tubs of the gardening office and the cartwheelers of the Düsseldorf tourism office, which now present themselves in the team colours of the Tour de France, a picture composed of flowers in Nordpark, a Grand Départ construction hoarding at Köbogen II, a ten-by-ten-metre banner on Benrather Straße, and window decorations at the Radstation (bike station) at Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz (main station) now also point to the highlight of the sporting year 2017.

Mayor Thomas Geisel: "The last stretch in the runup to the start of the Tour de France in Düsseldorf is starting now, the anticipation for this cycling event and public festival is continuing to grow - and every day, the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017 is becoming more visible throughout the town. You can feel it: Tour fever has taken hold of the city!"

In Nordpark you can already get an impression of how the gardening office is conjuring true "flower pictures" with Tour motifs on several green spaces within the town with the aid of flowers and stencils made by the apprentices in the carpenter’s workshop. There, on an area of 700 square metres, 12 "cyclists" are currently being planted in Blumenring. In Tanzring in Nordpark (close to Stockumer Kirchstraße) on 570 square metres, four team colours and the Tricolour are already planted, which will, of course, not unfold their full splendour until the flowers are in full bloom. In Kanalgarten and in the Sommerblumengarten too, flowering Tour-de-France motifs are planted which are sure to go around the world with the helicopter footage during the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017 from 29 June to 2 July 2017.

The Radstation (bike station) of the state capital Düsseldorf, the window front of which is now decorated with the cyclist symbols of the sport year Düsseldorf 2017, is also in Tour fever. It is run by the Zukunftswerkstatt (future workshop) Düsseldorf and, alongside a safe and convenient bike parking facility, also provides many other bike-related services right at Düsseldorf main station, such as repair, maintenance and cleaning of bikes, bike hire and sale of well-kept second-hand bikes. The Radstation is licenced by the ADFC.

Raffael Mancuso-Berger, head of the Radstation: "The Radstation and the Tour de France have more in common than you might think at first glance, because the big event in our town will put the bicycle more in focus. The fact that the Tour is starting in Düsseldorf is a successful initiative which we are, of course, happy to support through the window design of the Radstation at the main station. The Tour de France is a tourist magnet. Many of our bikes will be rented out to guests from outside of Düsseldorf who want to be more mobile here, and that is bound to increase further."

A special sponsoring cooperation has been implemented with the Centrum (Düsseldorf) and the B&L (Hamburg) group of companies, which uses the 220-metre-long construction hoarding at the Kö-Bogen II as a temporary advertising surface. Part of the surface can be used for the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017 or further municipal projects. The other part is to be marketed during the construction phase of the Kö-Bogen II, thus securing income of over a million Euro for the Tour start. Another advantage: the otherwise aesthetically unattractive construction hoarding becomes a real eye-catcher. This will start with an information area for the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017.

Jürgen Mentzel, Head of Project Development "CENTRUM Projektentwicklung GmbH": "We are delighted for Düsseldorf, that this outstanding sporting event will be celebrating its start in our city. We wish all the participants and the viewers along the route a peaceful, happy and exciting Grand Départ. As a Düsseldorf-based company, it is an honour for us to make this contribution along with all the other supporters."

The 100-square-metre banner at Benrather Straße is also causing a sensation. It is the result of cooperation between the municipal Grand Départ project office and Hines Immobilien GmbH, which, alongside the Kö district in Düsseldorf, also supervises the entire Kasernenstraße area between Benrather Straße and Bastionstraße and the Düsseldorf Arcaden.

Managing Director Benjamin Biehl: "The Tour de France is undoubtedly one of the biggest, and, year for year, one of the most spectacular sporting events in the world. The fact that, 30 years after the start of the Tour at the Berlin Wall, the city of Düsseldorf is to be part of this international event, is wonderful. As a real estate project developer and investor active at many locations in Düsseldorf, we are delighted to be able to contribute to supporting the 'Grand Départ'. For all Düsseldorfers and the many fans coming from elsewhere, this 'European weekend' of the Grand Départ will be an unforgettable experience. For this, thanks above all go to the Lord Mayor Geisel and the entire Team 'Grand Depart Düsseldorf 2017'."