The children’s cycling competition "Petit Départ" kicks off on Saturday, 25 March. In that way, everyone has the chance to ride in the "tire tracks" of the professionals. There’s also to be a new addition to the RADschlag app: alongside the existing, recommended bike routes, the official 1st stage of the Tour de France 2017 will be added as a special expedition.
In addition, the children’s cycling competition "Petit Départ" is set to start on 25 March.
The Town Hall will also be open, offering guided tours and showing wonderful portraits of great cyclists. The day concludes with the Nacht der Museen (museums night), with numerous exhibitions.
Enthusiastic supporters and sponsors will set the tone for the Tour with hands-on activities. Giant tandems, performers and groups of musicians on their bicycles will get the city centre rolling and provide for some surprising moments. And if you fancy, you can take a virtual ride along the route of the Grand Départ. An Eiffel Tower made of Lego bricks will shoot up next to Jan-Wellem, Düsseldorf’s artists will be working with children and everyone who would like to have a creative bash at a joint work of art. Under the title "Bonjour le Tour", you can breathe in a bit of French savoir vivre at the Town Hall from 12 am on - with culinary delights from Café Velo, valse musette and live music. On Saturday, 25 March, the heart of Düsseldorf’s old town will beat to the rhythm of the Tour de France. "Bonjour le Tour" - start of the event programme: A Franco-German trialogue in collaboration with the French Embassy and the Kunststiftung NRW. The reading with Katja Lange-Müller, Lydie Salvaire and Arno Bertina is to take place at the Heinrich-Heine Institute in Bilker Straße 12-14 under the title "Fremde Freunde" (strange friends). Four films are to be shown at the following four locations: Cinema, Schneider-Wibbel-Gasse 5, 40213 Düsseldorf (Thursday) Metropol, Brunnenstraße 20, 40223 Düsseldorf (Friday) Filmwerkstatt, Birkenstraße 47, 40233 Düsseldorf (Saturday) Schicke Mütze, Talstraße 22-24, 40217 Düsseldorf (Sunday). The Bicycle Film Festival, which is organised by Carsten Wien (cyclists hot-spot "Schicke Mütze") among others, reaches a broad public through the facets of lifestyle, fashion, music and cycling culture and makes the rise of cycling in the city clear. One film from the world of cycling is to be shown each day at four different venues. Here is a selection of the events surrounding the Grand Départ: The "Café Vélo" in the Alte Kämmerei am Marktplatz has been open since 16 December 2016.
The series of events is already set to start in February – as an "appetiser" for the great Tour spectacle on the Rhine and as advertising for the bicycle as an environmentally friendly means of transport. In addition, the hosting of the Grand Départ includes many further events in Düsseldorf in the first half of 2017 on the themes "promotion of bicycle traffic" and "development of the bicycle city". Around a million spectators are expected. On Sunday, to conclude the Grand Départ, the second stage is set to start in Düsseldorf - scheduled start time: 12 am (publicity caravan from 10 am). On the evening of the 1st of July, the KRAFTWERK 3-D Open Air Concert for the start of the Tour de France with special guest AIR is to be held in Ehrenhof.
On Saturday, the 1st stage starts as an individual time trial - planned start time: 3.15 pm (publicity caravan from 1.45 pm). At the same time, the official reception of the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017 is to be held there. On Friday, the Lichterfest (festival of lights) at Schloss Benrath offers the audience classical music under open skies, a romantic illuminated palace and breath-taking fireworks. The sporting part of the Grand Départ kicks off with the presentation of the teams on Thursday, 29 June, at 6 pm (currently scheduled time). The state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia is getting ready to write another chapter in sporting history - and eagerly awaits the start of the legendary French race. Düsseldorf is where the heart of bicycle racing beats in 2017: 30 years after the Tour-de-France start in the then still divided city of Berlin in 1987, the world’s most important bicycle race is finally set to start again in Germany.