Cycling capital Kranj earns Tour de France seal
Slovenia's third largest city, Kranj has won the Tour de France Cycle City label. Kranj hosts the L'Etape Slovenia by Tour de France recreational cycling event but is the only winner of the title that has not hosted a stage of the French Grand Tour yet, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
"Kranj is a sporting, cycling city," Mayor Matjaž Rakovec said in accepting the award. The city hosted the first edition of the Tour of Slovenia cycling race and its cycling club boasts a long history and many achievements in the sport.
The municipality has 80 kilometres of cycling lanes. It is continuously upgrading its bike-sharing system, which recorded more than 100,000 rentals last year.
"People are getting used to using bicycles instead of cars," the mayor said.
The city is proud to have won the Cycle City label, in particular because they have not hosted the world's most prestigious road cycling race yet. But Rakovec said Kranj would be happy to host it.
Mathieu Clanchin of A.S.O., the organiser of the Tour de France, praised Kranj as the host of L'Etape Slovenia and for its excellent work in promoting cycling and investment in cycling infrastructure.
"Kranj is an example of best practice," he said, adding that they awarded the label to Kranj in order to encourage other cities to invest in cycling as well.
L'Etape Slovenia is the official event for amateur cyclists in the Tour de France series, which is held around the world. Kranj will host it the first weekend in September for the fourth year in a row.
Andi Bajc, head of L'Etape Slovenia, promised the event on 6 and 7 September to bring challenges for riders of all ages. Saturday will feature shorter routes for children and families and Sunday will see races of 80 km and 130 km.
Pro rider Matej Mohorič, the L'Etape Slovenia ambassador, finds the event is a great promotion of Kranj as an excellent cycling training ground.
"Events like this can infect even more people with the cycling virus, which I think is great," he said.
