Union Cycliste Internationale to relaunch “Bike City” label, rewarding cities that have cycling at their heart

Among the season-topping news emerging from the Union Cycliste Internationale is word that the world cycling body is planning to bring back its Bike City label — something that will no doubt be of interest to Canadian cities, with a veritable velo-renaissance spreading across the country.

The idea behind the UCI Bike City label is to internationally recognize and reward those cities that take an active, advocating interest in cycling, especially in concert with major UCI events, and will first be awarded next year at the 2016 UCI road world championships in Doha, Qatar. The recognition is awarded for a period of four years, and it celebrates the ways that various cities and regions embrace the cyclists in their midst. Specifically, however — something of particular note, with the UCI planning to introduce urban cycling events to its calendar of competition in the coming seasons — it’s a way of demonstrating how elite cycling events can, in the long run, work with a broader ambition of making cycling more accessible to everyone.

Criteria used in assessing what makes a “Bike City” includes the ambition of regional cycling strategy, the dedication of funding, availability of protected bike lanes, safety for cyclists, training, the degree of participation among a city’s riders, sustainability, and progress.

According to UCI president Brian Cookson, the global cycling body, by rewarding cities for their bike-related progress, recognizes the growing, revolutionary appeal of the bike worldwide.

“Governments and regions across the globe are now grasping the huge public health benefits from integrating cycling into their transport plans,” Cookson said, “and part of the job of the UCI is to provide strategic guidance in this process. The UCI Bike City label will highlight those cities and towns who are making the most of the opportunity that hosting major UCI events brings, and leading the way in developing community cycling. Bike transport is increasingly becoming mainstream across the world and it is important that the UCI helps to drive forward and quicken this trend and ensure [that] cities and regions can learn from each other.”

“This ambition,” Cookson added, “is what lies at the heart of the UCI Bike City label.”