The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is delighted to announce the winners of the first ever UCI Cycling for All & Sustainability Awards. The winners were rewarded at the occasion of the sixth edition of the UCI Mobility & Bike City Forum, organised in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) on 18 and 19 December, gathering cycling leaders, advocates, mobility experts, National Federations, industry representatives and policy makers to exchange on the future of active mobility.
Launched this year, the UCI Cycling for All & Sustainability Awards recognise outstanding initiatives implemented by members of the cycling family (including professional riders, teams, National Federations, event organisers and UCI Bike Cities and Regions) that have positive social and environmental impact, promote active mobility and encourage everyday cycling.
The finalists, who were announced by the UCI on 20 November (see press release), were competing in the following categories: the “UCI Cycling for All Award”, rewarding a cycling initiative with significant social impact; the “UCI Climate Action Award”, rewarding a cycling initiative with positive environmental impact; the “UCI Bike City Award”, rewarding the most innovative project submitted by UCI Bike Cities and Regions; and the “UCI Rainbow Trophy”, a special award selected by the jury out of all submissions.
Following deliberations, the jury decided to reward the following initiatives:
UCI Cycling for All Award: AusCycling – AusBike
AusBike is Australia’s national programme designed to give 5- to 12-year-old kids the essential skills to experience the freedom, fun and adventure of life on a bike. AusBike teaches kids to ride safely in a fun, inclusive environment and caters for kids with all levels of bike riding experience. With a total of 39, 944 participants between its launch in August 2023 and October 2024, AusCycling has a target of 50,000 AusBike participants until the end of 2024.
UCI Climate Action Award: HERO Dolomites – HERO TO ZERO
The HERO to ZERO project is a sustainability programme launched by the organising committee of the HERO Dolomites, an event registered on the UCI Mountain Bike International Calendar, to protect the Dolomites' beauty and align with the United Nations' SDGs It aims to reduce the event’s carbon footprint through different measures, including CO2 emission reduction (goal: zero impact), offsetting schemes and waste reduction, in addition to addressing social inequality and preservation of the environment.
UCI Bike City Award: Copenhagen (Denmark) – Copenhagen Cycle Superhighway collaboration
The cycle “superhighways” in and around Copenhagen are regional, high-quality cycling routes that connect rural and city areas across municipal boundaries. The network of cycle superhighways is built by 28 collaborating municipalities and the Copenhagen region who have joined forces to create better bicycle infrastructure across municipal boundaries. With an objective of an 850 km long network, it currently counts 16 cycle superhighways, stretching over 244 km and connecting 21 municipalities.
UCI Rainbow Award: BEAT Cycling Club – the first ever TRAINingcamp
BEAT Cycling Club was founded to bring a sustainable community model to professional cycling. Through its TRAINingcamp project, industry partners were gathered to show the world that travelling to cycling destinations does not need to be done by plane. The club organised a training camp in which all riders, staff, as well as bikes and equipment, travelled from the Netherlands and Belgium to Spain by train. By sharing their story through various forms of media, the aim was to inspire as many people as possible to practice the sport in a more sustainable matter, from material use to use more sustainable methods of transportation.
At the conclusion of the awards ceremony, UCI President David Lappartient said: “We are thrilled to reward such outstanding initiatives, all dedicated to making our sport more accessible, more sustainable and focused on getting more people to use the bicycle as an everyday form of transport. Our aim is to ensure that the initiatives of the winners of these new Awards, as well as those of the candidates who did not get rewarded, can inspire other members of the cycling family to follow their lead and implement their own initiatives that contribute to a sustainable future for all.”
Some of the highlights of the first day of the 2024 UCI Mobility & Bike City Forum included the keynote speech by Emirati professional cyclist Safiya Al Sayegh, whose journey serves as a true inspiration for cyclists worldwide; the launch of the new UN #MakeASafetyStatement visual with Tadej Pogačar by the UN Secretary General’s Road Safety Envoy Jean Todt; the presentation of Abu Dhabi’s cycling vision by H.E. Aref Hamad Al Awani and other distinguished Emirati officials; as well as examples from a diverse array of expert speakers representing all five continents on topics related to urban cycling promotion, bicycle tourism and sustainability. Finally, representatives from Copenhagen, host city of the 2025 UCI Mobility & Bike City Forum, provided delegates with a glimpse of what to expect during the event taking place on 20-21 June next year.
The Forum continues today with workshops dedicated to topics of sustainability, women’s cycling promotion and capacity building, followed by bike tours along Abu Dhabi’s cycling infrastructure, both on Al Hudayriyat Island and within the city centre. Delegates can thereafter attend the 2024 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships, currently being held in Abu Dhabi and concluding on 21 December 2024.