The Tour de France organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), has expressed their condolences to the victims and their families of a shooting at a shopping mall centre in Copenhagen that left several people dead and injured on Sunday.
"The Tour de France assures the Danish people of its sympathy and compassion in this time. The Tour is extremely shocked and saddened to hear of what has happened in Copenhagen," ASO wrote in a statement.
"The people of Copenhagen had given the peloton one of the greatest welcomes in the sport's history, forging deep bonds with all its followers. The entire caravan of the Tour de France sends its sincerest condolences to the victims and their families."
Many riders and teams also offered their condolences via social media.
The Tour de France Grand Départ was held in Denmark, with the opening time trial stage around Copenhagen on Friday, July 1. For several days the riders, teams and the Tour de France caravan of close to 4,000 people stayed in the Danish capital.
The race then moved on to Roskilde and Nyborg for stage 2 on Saturday and then Vejle and Sønderborg for stage 3 on Sunday. The race transferred from Sønderborg to northern France on Sunday evening, with riders taking a series of flights as the rest of caravan flew later or drove the 900km to Calais for the first rest day on Monday.
The shooting location, at a Field's shopping mall, was approximately one kilometre from the Tour de France headquarters at the Bella Centre, an exhibition and conference center in Copenhagen.
The suspect, a 22-year-old Danish man, was arrested near the shopping mall, said police inspector Soren Thomassen, head of the Copenhagen police operations unit, according to a report in the CBC.
"We know that there are several dead" and "several injured," Thomassen told a news conference, adding that terrorism can't be ruled out at this stage. Authorities have said that it is too early to provide exact figures.
The capital's main hospital, Rigshospitalet, had received a "small group of patients" for treatment from the incident, possibly more than three, a spokesperson told Reuters.
It had called in extra staff, including surgeons and nurses, the spokesperson added.
Police have advised those still in the mall to stay where they are and await police assistance, and have advised the public to stay away from the area.
