Odder Cykel Klub's major international stage race for riders aged 9-18, Tour de Himmelfart, sets a participation record.

If you are going to visit Odder Strand Camping on the East Jutland coast in 2017 and beyond, you can start to look forward to it - Odder is part of the European Capital of Culture 2017.

A total of 765 riders have registered for this year's race, which is a new record.

The largest field is the U19 Men's field, which includes no less than 162 riders. 
There are riders from 8 different nations (Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Norway and Sweden) who will cycle for victory in 12 different classes.

In the Men's U19 class, the field is led by last year's winner Julius Johansen, who also came in 4th at the Junior World Championships in time trial. Johansen won the race last year in safe style, but should by no means feel safe, as there is strong competition from both Denmark and abroad.

Among the Danes, we can mention Ludvig Anton Wacker who won Gent-Wevelgem earlier this year, Johan Langballe, who won Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in the spring, and this weekend won a stage in Driedaagse van Axel and took 2nd place overall in the race. Also in the field is Mathias Larsen who came 3rd in Paris-Roubaix.

Among the foreign riders, there are also several good offers, including Dutch Quiten Veling who won the UCI race Ronde van Gelderland in April. From Sweden, the double Swedish champion Linus Kvist will start. Kvist has previously delivered great results in the Tour de Himmelfart. In addition to Kvist, Samuel Lord from Sweden is also starting. Lord is the Swedish champion in cyclo-cross. The Danish champion in cyclo-cross, Anders Lillendal, is also starting. Lillendal won his Danish championship back in January, when Odder organized the Danish cyclo-cross championship. So can Lillendal bring home another big victory in Odder?

This year's field for the U19 women is a field of high international character. In addition to the Danish champion Emma Norsgaard, the Estonian champion Merili Servel, the Dutch champion Lorena Wiebes, and the Swedish champion Clara Lundmark are also starting. Lundmark is the Swedish champion in both the individual time trial and the line race. 
Lorena Wiebes has won several nations cup races this year, and is a sparkling star on the Dutch cycling scene. In addition to Wiebes from the Netherlands, Eva Bijwaard, Floortje Van Den Berg, Iris Torn and Marit Cent are also starting. All riders who have previously shown promise in the Tour de Himmelfart. Mathilda Luukonen is also starting from Sweden. Luukonen is the reigning silver medalist in both the time trial and the line race at the Swedish championships.

In the island-rich fields, there will also be great cycling races to watch, with foreign riders in all classes.

The first stage starts on Thursday, May 25th at 9:00 AM at Ballevej in Odder, and ends with the 5th stage on Saturday, which is also the race's crowning stage.

Tour de Ascension in numbers 
Approximately 150 volunteers are ready to help during the 3 days of the race. These people cover more than 250 tasks during the bike race.

There are a total of 765 riders at the start, divided into 12 classes. 
147 girl riders and 618 boy riders. 
The largest field is the men's junior class with 162 starting riders.

Riders from 117 different clubs are participating. 
46 Denmark 
26 Netherlands 
18 Sweden 
17 Norway 
6 Belgium 
1 England 
1 Estonia 
1 Finnish 
1 Italy

During the race, 330 stage prizes and 211 bouquets of flowers with ribbons will be awarded. 
90 leader's jerseys will be distributed (yellow 60 – blue 15 – red 15).

At the final awards ceremony, 136 trophies and 44 teddy bears will be awarded in the team competition.

The total prize money in the race is around DKK 150.000.

See more about the race here: www.oddercykelklub.dk/tdh

Thursday, May 25
1st and 2nd stage
Start and finish: Ballevej 11, 8300 Odder

Friday, May 26th
3st and 4nd stage
Start and finish: Vesterhåb 56, 8300 Odder

Saturday, May 27th
5th stage
Start and Finish: Vesterhåb 56, 8300 Odder