The start of the Tour de France in Denmark is likely to be changed from 2021 to 2022, DR.dk reports. The postponement could satisfy an agreement between Tour organizer Amaury Sport Organisation and the city of Copenhagen, which would allow the Tour to be scheduled a week earlier and avoid a conflict with the men's road race at the Tokyo Olympics.

Copenhagen Mayor Frank Jesper admitted that negotiations are underway to postpone the scheduled three stages to 2022, and denied that the country would lose the race altogether.

"There is no doubt that the Tour will not come to Denmark and Copenhagen," Jesper told DR.dk.

"The start of the Tour in Denmark will most likely be changed to 2022. We are trying to make it happen in 2021, but if we stick to 2021 it will be very tough. It would be better to wait a year and not force the start of the Tour until next year, which would give us better exposure to the race in Denmark."

The first three stages of the 2021 Tour de France were originally scheduled to take place in Denmark on July 2-4, 2021, but the Olympic Games were postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak, so the men's road race will take place on the last weekend of the original schedule.

The ASO had hoped to avoid schedule overlap by starting the Tour de France a week earlier, but Copenhagen hosts the European soccer championships the last week of June, so holding both major events in the same week would strain local resources.

A report in the Brittany newspaper Le Télégramme suggests that Brittany has already offered the Grande Palais next year, which would put their plans a few years early.

The move of the Copenhagen stage surprised Eric Lauritzen, mayor of Sønderborg, where the third stage was to finish. He told Ekstra Bladet (open in new tab) that his office had not been informed of the negotiations.

"I respect that it was a very difficult situation from ASO and France, but we should have been informed that alternatives were being considered," Lauritzen said.

However, he agreed that a postponement was probably best.

"It would be a very big challenge on all fronts. That said, I also think that deferring it for a year and making sure we are outside of the coronal restrictions and other uncertainties might be the best solution for everyone."