Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Copenhagen to welcome back Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard.
The Jumbo-Visma rider came out on top in a thrilling battle for the title with two-time winner Tadej Pogacar and became the first Dane to win the Tour de France since Bjarne Riis in 1996.
Vingegaard's win will rank highly in the list of Denmark's best sporting moments, alongside the shock victory at football's Euro 1992.
In red and white livery, two Danish Air Force fighter jets escorted Vingegaard's private plane on its journey to Copenhagen.
“I'm almost completely speechless. I don't know what to say,” Vingegaard said, before stepping on to a balcony where he was greeted by a throng of flag-waving Danes on Copenhagen's town hall square.
“It's fantastic and mega moving … It still hasn't sunk in that I won the Tour de France. It's something I couldn't have imagined. It's unbelievable.”
Vingegaard thanked his first bicycle club Thy Cykle Ring, and sent his gratitude to volunteers in cycling sport clubs across the country, without whom he said he wouldn't have won the Tour de France.
His home town of Glyngore in northern Denmark will host Vingegaard for further celebrations on Thursday.
Denmark hosted the first three stages of the Tour de France, with the first stage a 13km time-trial through the Danish capital, known as the world's most bike-friendly city.
The 25-year-old, who five years ago was working as a fish packer in a factory in the morning before training in the afternoon, followed up on his surprise second place last year.
Vingegaard laid the foundations of his victory on Stage 11 of the Tour, when he and his teammate Primoz Roglic attacked UAE Team Emirates rider Pogacar relentlessly and made the Slovenian crack on the gruelling climb up the Col du Granon.
The Dane, who joined the Jumbo-Visma team in 2019, sealed the victory when he claimed another win at Hautacam in the final mountain stage.
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
