Green boxers, polka dot mugs and Maxoo: Inside Copenhagen's Tour de France shop
Denmark has gone wild for the Tour de France, so Cycling Weekly decided to join in the fun at the ASO-approved store
You cannot move for Tour de France themed things in Copenhagen this week. For Denmark's first experience of La Grande Boucle the modest capital — 600,000 people live here rather than London's nine million — has really thrown itself into celebrating the race and cycling.
There are yellow trees, a bike in every shop window - including Danish former pro, and current Quick-Step Alpha Final sporting director, Brian Holm's in one enterprising bookshop - posters of national hero Kasper Asgreen everywhere, humungous bunting, a commemorative drain cover, and "Allez! Allez! Allez!" in big letters all over the place.
But after experiencing the huge, dynamic team presentation on Wednesday evening, there was only one place for Cycling Weekly to truly feel the magic of the race: the official shop, where there's a feast of tat on offer for the discerning cycling fan.
The Tour de France Official Store, as it is properly named, is located on Frederiksberggade, one of Copenhagen's main shopping streets, which leads away northwest from the City Hall; it is found between an Asian restaurant called Momo Wok Box and the Hereford Village steak house, quite the salubrious area.
As well as being a prime shopping street, a cursory glance at Danish Wikipedia tells me that the shop is, apparently, near to where a coffee shop called Tosca used to be. It was notorious for being a spot where Nazis and Danish collaborators would hang out during the German occupation of Denmark between 1940 and 1945, and as a result it was bombed multiple times by resistance fighters.
There are no Nazis in the Tour de France shop (as far as I can tell), where commercialism meets sport. It is busy, even past 8pm, which is when I popped in.
My eye was immediately drawn to Maxoo, the strange looking Tour de France mascot. He isn't dressed as a cyclist, more like a child who lives in some futuristic space city, and can be yours for just 150 Danish Kroner, that's about £18, if you really want to spoil someone.
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The shop's website says: "Give the young cyclist in your family a gift they will love and admire forever." On first impressions, I doubt Maxoo would last forever, or be loved for more than a few weeks, but I might be wrong.
Right by the entrance is a tin of Les Petites Cyclistes, little cyclists to you and me, which are like the army soldiers children used to leave on the floor for people to stand on. They are yours for £22.
There is of course Santini kit, with special Denmark Grand Départ motifs - the Italian brand took over from Le Coq Sportif as the official outfitters of the race a few years ago. You can buy the yellow and polka-dotted jerseys, obviously, but you wouldn't want to endure the wrath of Bernard Hinault. Why not get the Maillot Jaune inspired stuff instead, the jersey is just £87. Apparently it "celebrates the uniqueness of the Tour de France". I am unsure how.
My favourite thing in the whole place, though, is the underwear section. Just boxers and socks, but the themed collection can allow you to feel like Peter Sagan in green or Robert Millar in polka dots whatever you're wearing. You too can feel like a Tour jersey winner in just your pants, maybe. For just 250 Kroner, or £29, you can stride about town in some "Allez, Allez, Allez" pants, imbued with the confidence of a Tour winner.
Anyway, that's enough of that, I'm off to love and admire my Maxoo.
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Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling on tarmac, he's happy. Before joining Cycling Weekly he spent two years writing for Procycling, where he interviewed riders and wrote about racing. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds. Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to cycling.
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