Press Release: City Cycling 2026 – Launch of the campaign in Itzehoe (DE)

Local authorities around the world are invited to take part in City Cycling until the end of September. During the campaign, residents and local councillors cycle as many everyday journeys as possible over 21 consecutive days. The campaign promotes cycling, climate protection and a better quality of life in local communities.

At the start of the event, State Secretary Joschka Knuth highlighted the benefits of cycling: “Cycling protects the climate and the environment and noticeably improves the quality of life for us all. Cleaner air, less noise and more exercise are just some of the many benefits of cycling from which we all stand to gain. Especially for everyday journeys of less than five kilometres, the bicycle can easily keep up with the car in terms of speed and flexibility. To further boost cycling in Schleswig-Holstein, we are once again providing financial support this year to our local authorities to take part in City Cycling.”

District President Peter Labendowicz was delighted that the Steinburg district is hosting the campaign launch in the anniversary year of its participation. “Today we are launching the tenth edition of the cycling campaign here in the Steinburg district. Year after year, the campaign has a firm place in our calendar. City Cycling motivates people to switch to cycling through fun and positive competition. This allows residents to experience the benefits of cycling in their everyday lives first-hand – and, ideally, to stick with it for the long term.”

Nicole Ingwersen-Britt, mayor of the municipality of Krummendiek, also helped launch this year’s City Cycling campaign. Last year, Krummendiek topped the list of all participating municipalities in terms of kilometres per resident. “Of course, we achieved this high average partly because Krummendiek, with its 87 residents, is a very small municipality. But people really do cycle a lot here. It’s not far to the larger neighbouring municipalities, and the bicycle is the mode of transport of choice here. This year, we want to defend our top position,” said Ingwersen-Britt.

For André Muno, Managing Director of Climate Alliance Services, one thing is clear: for people to take up cycling in the long term, what is needed – alongside the enjoyment of exercise and friendly competition – is, above all, a well-developed and well-maintained cycling infrastructure. This is where City Cycling supports local authorities with data from the campaign’s own app. The participants’ fully anonymised route records are scientifically analysed and provide a comprehensive picture of cycling in the local authority. “Cycling planners can thus quickly identify where traffic flow is restricted and tailor and improve the infrastructure to meet the actual needs of cyclists,” explained Muno. The data is made available on the Bike Monitor portal.

Last year, over 1.2 million people from 3,013 local authorities took part in City Cycling and cycled a total of 237 million kilometres. Local authorities and cyclists worldwide can register for City Cycling 2026 until September.