November 9th., 2017

Nominations for Cycle Route of the Year announced

The contest to win the honorary title of 'Cycle Route of the Year' is in full swing. Four routes have been nominated for selection in 2018. The jury will present the Cycling Trophy on the first day of the ‘Fiets en Wandelbeurs’ at the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, on Friday 2nd. of March.

A route in Poland has been selected for nomination for the first time. The 2,000 km long ‘Green Velo’ runs through a number of national parks, historic cities and towns in the east of the country. These well signposted cycle paths, small rural roads and strategically situated 'bicycle service points' are characteristic of this welcome new addition to the network of cycling routes. (Greenvelo.pl)

The ‘ViaRhôna’ (815 km) in Switzerland and France is another potential winner. The ‘Via’ runs from the Lake of Geneva alongside the Rhône to Plage Napoléon in the municipality of Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône on the Mediterranean Sea. (www.viarhona.com)

The International Meuse/Maas cycling route in France, Belgium and of course the Netherlands was opened this year amidst festivities and was nominated straight away. The trajectory is about 1,000 kilometres and follows the course of the river from its source on the Plateau de Langres to its estuary at the Hook of Holland. (www.maasfietsroute.eu)

For the first time Sweden too has put forward an important candidate for selection: ‘Kattegattleden’. This route is 370 kilometres long and follows part of the west coast of Sweden between Helsingborg and Gothenburg. (www.kattegattleden.se)

These are all tried and tested routes. In the months ahead the jury, consisting of Wouter Bazen, Luc Oteman and Bert Sitters, will be considering which of these routes has the best claim to be successor to 'La Vélo Francette', the Cycle Route of the Year 2017.

The ‘Cycle Route of the Year’ award was initiated by the ‘Fiets en Wandelbeurs’ (Cycling & Hiking Fair). With the aim of stimulating the realisation of good quality bicycle routes which are attractive to touring cyclists. The ‘Fiets en Wandelbeurs’ takes place on February 10th. and 11th. 2018 in Flanders Expo in Ghent and on March 2nd. 3rd. and 4th. 2018 in the Jaarbeurs Utrecht.