Mayor Thomas Geisel sends bike racing professionals onto the route of the 2nd stage of the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017
| Grand Départ
Mayor Thomas Geisel was able to greet professional racing cyclists today in front of the Haus der Universität in Düsseldorf and, together with Theresa Winkels (4th f.l.), project manager of the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017, sent them on a training ride to Liège.
Together with the rector Prof. Dr. Anja Steinbeck (centre of photo) the Mayor Thomas Geisel presented the lecture series "Vélomanie?! Facetten des Radsports zwischen Mythos und Ökonomie" (Vélomanie ?! Facets of cycling between myth and economy). Afterwards, the Düsseldorf racing cyclists went on a training ride to Liège.
Mayor Thomas Geisel today welcomed bike racing professionals, including André Greipel, Marcel Sieberg (both team Lotto Soudal), John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), Christian Knees (Team Sky), Robert Wagner (Lotto NL-Jumbo), Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb) and Jasha Sütterlin (Team Movistar) in front of the Haus der Universität in Düsseldorf. The head of the city and Theresa Winkels, project manager of Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017, then sent the racing cyclists onto the track of the 2nd stage of the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017.
Together with Sven Teutenberg, Event Director Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017, the race professionals completed the roughly 165 km - omitting the Neandertal loop - training ride in the tracks of the 2nd stage of the Tour de France, which is set to start on 2 July in Düsseldorf and takes in the town of Erkrath, the Neandertal valley, the town of Mettmann, the district Rhein-Kreis Neuss, Meerbusch, Neuss, Kaarst, Korschenbroich, Mönchengladbach, the district of Heinsberg, Kreis Heinsberg Düren, Jülich, Titz, Aldenhoven, the district of Aachen with Alsdorf and Würselen, the cathedral city of Aachen and the Belgian town of Liège.
Beforehand, the Mayor Thomas Geisel, together with the rector Prof. Dr. Anja Steinbeck and the two initiators, Prof. Dr Frank Leinen and Jun.-Prof. Dr. Sieglinde Borvitz (Institute for Romance Studies), presented the public lecture series "Vélomanie?! Facetten des Radsports zwischen Mythos und Ökonomie" (Vélomanie ?! Facets of cycling between myth and economy) of the Heinrich-Heine University. These are to be held from 25 April to 18 July every Tuesday at 9 pm in the Haus der Universität.
In the 14 events, lectures, readings and discussions, once a week, professors of the Heinrich Heine University, the German Sport University Cologne and the universities of Hamburg, Freiburg and the French Cergy-Pontoise give appealing and understandable insights into the current developments in
various fields of knowledge and research. Cycling as a sport, but also bicycling in general is illustrated from current perspectives of sports history, sports economics, marketing, sports medicine, philosophy, literature and cultural sciences as well as linguistic sciences.