VALENCIA is officially one of the 10 most cycle-friendly cities in the world.
A new report has revealed that the regional capital has overtaken both Madrid and Barcelona as one of the top locations to explore on two wheels.
The analysis by money.co.uk was compiled taking into account a wide range of factors including cheapest places for 24-hour bike rentals, number of cycle lanes, flattest terrain, average weather conditions, bicycle repair shops, strictest cycling laws, and road safety.
Following these criteria, a list of 40 large cities from around the globe was drawn up based on entries for a previous study by the same firm on the healthiest countries to live – in which Spain scored first place.
With a possible top score of 280, each city was assigned a position on the ranking. Copenhagen claimed the gold medal with a total score of 216, with Valencia coming in at number 10 with 173 points.
The next Spanish entries can be found right at the bottom of the list, with Madrid (38) and Barcelona (39) appearing consecutively with 126 and 118 points, respectively.
Unsurprisingly, Amsterdam is in the top three after Tallinn (Estonia), with three Australian cities ranking consecutively in seventh, eighth and ninth place – namely Adelaide, Perth and Canberra.
In last place below the Spanish and Catalan capitals is Ljubljana in Slovenia, mainly due to its elevation – making it difficult for non-experienced cyclists – and usually wet weather conditions.
Barcelona suffers from elevation, lack of cycle paths and repair shops, while Valencia stands out especially due to its cheap rental prices.
Interestingly, the scoring system can seem somewhat unbalanced in places, as certain cities score very high in some criteria but much lower in others.
In the case of the winner, Copenhagen, while it scores the highest in most other areas, it is also one of the most expensive cities to rent a bicycle for day trips – therefore the choice of city to explore by pedal power will depend very much on what each traveller is looking for.
For the full report and a breakdown of each individual category, visithttps://www.money.co.uk/credit-cards/cycle-cities
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