Kick-off for the "Tour Makers" of the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017

Almost 1,400 voluntary helpers for the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017 of the Tour de France met on Saturday, 29 April, at the Heinrich Heine University, where they were given an overview of their tasks. The university had made several lecture halls available for this purpose. Because of the large number of volunteers, the information was provided in two blocks in the morning and afternoon. The enthusiasm for the cycling event from 29 June to 2 July is great: in total, around 1,400 men and 1,000 women have registered as voluntary helpers. The "Tour Makers" as the volunteers are officially called, were welcomed in the morning by Mayor Thomas Geisel and in the afternoon by the mayoress Klaudia Zepuntke.

"A major sporting event such as the Grand Départ of the Tour de France cannot be successfully implemented without voluntary helpers - they are the faces of our city. I am delighted by the great voluntary commitment and the enthusiasm, which is obviously contagious", said the Mayor.

The volunteers don’t just come from Düsseldorf and the region, but from the whole of Germany and the neighbouring countries. For example, volunteers have applied from Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Munich, but also from Utrecht and Roermond (Netherlands), Eupen (Belgium), London (England), Vienna (Austria) and Södertälje (Sweden). One volunteer is even planning to travel to the Grand Départ from Pooraka in Australia. The introductory event provided the first opportunity to get to know each other and exchange experiences. Entertainment was provided by "Gendarm Francois Le Flic", who already delighted the guests at "Bonjour le Tour". As a small thank you, all the participants at the kick-off already received a Grand-Départ T-shirt. The volunteers will be given their full equipment at the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017.

Project manager Theresa Winkels and event director Sven Teutenberg gave a first overview of the fields of activity and the areas of responsibility. These include, for example, admitting the public to the various venues, securing the route, promotion and looking after guests. 830 volunteers had signed up for the morning event and 565 for the afternoon event. Anyone who was unable to attend will not, of course, be excluded. All the relevant information will be posted in the Internet in the coming week under www.duesseldorf2017.de/volunteers and can be read there. The volunteers will then also be able to register online there for the various tasks. The actual briefing will then take place on the days they are deployed.