Manchester bids to become the first-ever European Capital of Cycling

Manchester has launched a formal bid in the hope to become Europe’s first ever Capital of Cycling.

Manchester City Council has announced it has submitted a bid to ACES Europe, which it says ‘is the culmination of years of work which has seen a hugely ambitious expansion of cycling in both Manchester as well as the entire Greater Manchester region’.

A delegation from ACES will visit the city in September to meet with city partners and decide on the winning bid to become the Capital of Cycling.

Other big dates in the cycling calendar include the Tour of Britain, which made its way through Manchester on September 3rd, and the National Cycling Centre – which is reopening following a two-year renovation.

Earlier this year the council made a statement on how important cycling would be in the city and its aims to have double the mode of transport choice to cycling by 2028.

The combined authority also hopes this will contribute to the target of becoming a zero-carbon city by 2038.

Manchester is also home to the Bee Network which creates protected cycling routes through a £70 million pipeline of funding. More than 13 km of cycleways have already been constructed, with additional routes in the process of planning.

Cycling is also being used to tackle health inequality in the city through the Making Manchester Fairer programme – a five-year plan to improve the health outcomes of the residents of Manchester.

Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council said: “We’re incredibly proud to have been in a position to make this bid.”

“Cycling is at the heart of our transport strategy for the next five years, and with the impetus this accolade would bring, I am confident we will be able to truly make Manchester a great cycling city,” she continued. 

“We are determined, alongside our valued partners in the city, to capitalise on what becoming the Capital of Cycling would mean and to ensure that we can create a lasting legacy.” 

Gian Francesco Lupattelli, President of ACES Europe said: “We are enormously thrilled to receive a very high-quality bid for our inaugural and prestigious European Capital of Cycling award for 2024 from the City of Manchester and its partners.

“There is clearly some fantastic work taking place in the city to encourage people to become more active through cycling and this is being firmly backed up with a significant level of investment into the cycling infrastructure and prestigious National Cycling facility. 

“We are looking forward to bringing an international delegation to the city for the evaluation visit and seeing some of the great projects and programmes in action and we wish Manchester good luck with their mission to become ACES Europe’s first European Capital of Cycling in 2024.”