At today's briefing in Copenhagen, the head of press and communication for the Grand Départ Simon Kærup revealed plans to mark Denmark's historic staging of the Grand Tour's curtain-raiser.

Plans are in place to mark 100 days before the start of the Tour de France on March 23 and 24.

The first of these events is due to take place on the famous Great Belt Bridge - 18 kilometres long and connecting Korsør and Nyborg - which is scheduled to host part of the second stage of the race.

"We will have the honour of showing Christian Prudhomme, the race director from the Tour de France, up into the pillars of the Great Belt Bridge, and we will do some interviews and photo sessions from the top of the Great Belt Bridge, which is one of the most iconic moments of the Tour de France in Denmark, since it is a spectacular construction in itself and because we expect that we will have some hopefully very unique sporting moments there," Kærup explained.

"We will have the finish of the second stage.

"We will also have some very unique images to provide the whole world with, and it's just in many ways a very nice way of kicking off the 100 days to go.

"So we will bring Prudhomme and a selected range of national and international media to the Great Belt Bridge and start there in Nyborg."

The Grand Départ Trophy, awarded to Denmark on the Champs-Élysées last year, is to be taken from Roskilde, the starting point for the second stage of the Tour de France, to Copenhagen.

A celebration is then planned on the City Hall Square in the Danish capital, where the countdown watch for the Grand Départ will begin.

Events are also scheduled in Vejle and Sønderborg, the start and finish cities for the third stage, on March 24, with further details expected in the coming weeks.

Other cities across Denmark are also due to take part in the celebrations, with this year's race billed as the first time a whole country has staged the opening of the Tour de France as opposed to a particular city or region.

More than 85 activities are currently scheduled, including amateur road races, talks about Denmark as "an everyday biking nation", the sold-out Tour de Storebælt on June 11 where 16,000 cyclists are able to complete the second stage of the Tour de France from Roskilde to Nyborg, and a FestiVelo in Copenhagen on July 1 and 2.

It is hoped that events can be held every day from March 23.

This is designed to showcase "a yellow fever" across Denmark as the Tour de France approaches, according to Kærup.

He added that Denmark staging the Grand Départ is "a perfect match".

The country has previously held major cycling events including the International Cycling Union (UCI) Road World Championships in 2011, the start of the Giro d'Italia in 2012 and the European Cycling Union Road Championships in 2017.

It is also due to hold the UCI Track World Championships in 2024.

It is currently the Year of the Bike in Denmark, with $64 million (£47 million/€56 million) of investment in new cycle lanes planned in 2022 as part of a wider $458 million (£336 million/€404 million) infrastructure plan.

Denmark had been due to host the Grand Départ last year, but it was moved to Brest in France to avoid a clash with the postponed UEFA Euro 2020, in which Copenhagen held four matches.

The 21-stage Tour de France is set to begin with a 13km individual time trial in Copenhagen on July 1, with Paris staging its finale on July 24.

Slovenia's Tadej Pogačar has won the Tour de France in each of the last two years.