April 15, 2023 - EuroVelo, a visionary project that officially launched in November 1997, celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022. Last year’s anniversary marked an amazing journey that saw the development of 17 bicycle routes comprising over 90,000 km, 64% of which are developed.

A European success story of cross-border cooperation, the inspiration for the creation of EuroVelo was the launch of Denmark’s cycling network back in 1993, the first official national cycling route system in Europe.

In 1995, a working group chaired by Jens Erik Larsen (Denmark) was formed at the annual general meeting of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) in Brussels. Along with Rein Lepik (Estonia), Chris Heymans (SLF), Richard König (ADFC) and Martin Robes (Czech and Slovak Trafic Club), these pioneers laid the foundation of a proposal for 12 European Cycle Routes.

Following conferences in Amersfoort, The Netherlands and Bruges, Belgium, Larsen and his team had devised a map of the proposed routes. By 1997, the group secured the needed funding from the European Union to launch EuroVelo which was described by Robert Coleman, Director of Transport at the European Commission, as “an economic force with significant untapped potential.”

“In 1998, ECF, Sustrans (United Kingdom) and Frie Fugle (Denmark) signed a contract for the management of the project,” noted Larsen in a EuroVelo historical

report. “We received grants from the European Commission – DG Transport, leading to the opening and launch of the first EuroVelo route, EuroVelo 12 – North Sea Cycle Route in 2001.”

Today, EuroVelo is one of the ECF’s flagship initiatives. With 64% of the network developed, signage can currently be found over 35,000km across 24 European countries.

EuroVelo has seen steady growth over the years as cycling data from France shows that 50% of cyclists are tourists with an economic impact of €4.2B. “There has been a 17% increase on #EuroVelo routes in France from 2019 to 2021,” added Stéphanie Mangin from Vélo & Territoires.

Germany’s Cycling Federation (ADFC) reported 3.9 million cycling trips in 2021, which accounted for 12% of tourism and generated €12B in turnover. Spain’s cycling data shows that the EuroVelo 8 Mediterranean Route brought in €3.4 million.

Eco-Counter notes that usage of EuroVelo routes in 2022 (compared to 2019) saw a 14% increase during weekends and an 11% increase overall — in fact, EuroVelo 17, the Rhone Cycle Route, saw an incredible 34% growth of cyclists.

“Our vision for 2030 is a fully developed and high-quality cycle route network,” commented Agathe Daudibon, EuroVelo Manager at ECF.

With 2.1 million web visitors and 6,000 newsletter subscribers, EuroVelo continues to grow and expand launching GPX tracks for EuroVelo routes in the summer of 2022 along with the EuroVeloForYouth campaign last fall.

EuroVelo’s integration into the EU’s transport network, TEN-T, has been a topic since its inception, and there is growing optimism as cycling continues to gain a stronger voice in the mobility framework.

Izmir, Türkiye, the beautiful coastal city situated on EuroVelo 8 – Mediterranean Route, has been selected as the host city for the EuroVelo & Cycling Tourism Conference scheduled for October 11-13, 2023.