Saalfelden Leogang's commitment to cycling was recently honoured with a coveted award: the "UCI Bike Region" label. The label is awarded by the International Cycling Union to towns and regions that make a special contribution to cycling.
Whether uphill, downhill or leisurely straight ahead: Saalfelden Leogang has been focussing on cycling for years and has long since established itself as one of the top mountain bike destinations in Europe. Firstly with the Epic Bikepark Leogang and secondly with natural, hand-built single trails and a varied network of MTB routes. Now those responsible have achieved another milestone. Saalfelden Leogang has recently become an official holder of the "UCI Bike Region" label. The prerequisite for the award is the staging of a major UCI cycling event, as well as the promotion of public cycling with the implementation of corresponding programmes. As part of the award, the UCI focussed on the aspects of sustainability, increasing bike use, expanding the infrastructure, safety and accident reduction, bike training for young cyclists and the dedicated financing of the planned projects in Saalfelden Leogang.
Saalfelden Leogang as a pioneer in sustainable bike tourism
In the end, the UCI agreed: the Saalfelden Leogang region is worthy of an award. "As a regular venue for UCI events, Saalfelden Leogang is an established mountain bike hotspot with numerous cycle routes for competitors and leisure cyclists. The region is also a pioneer when it comes to sustainable bike tourism: for example, with clear route markings and dedicated communication campaigns. The annual UCI Mountain Bike World Cup races are organised as green as possible, which means that energy efficiency, social responsibility and waste avoidance come to the fore," says UCI President David Lappartient.
"It fills us with pride that we are the second region in Austria to carry this label. It is a great recognition of our commitment to cycling and motivates our entire team to continue on this path," explains Marco Pointner, Managing Director of Saalfelden Leogang Touristik.
Saalfelden Leogang honoured as the second region in Austria
Introduced in 2016, 26 cities and regions worldwide now bear the "UCI Bike Region" or "UCI Bike City" label. These include cities such as Copenhagen, Montreal, Paris, Glasgow and Vancouver and regions such as Flanders, Val di Sole and southern Scotland. In Austria, Tirol has been recognised as a UCI Bike Region to date (2019) - Saalfelden Leogang has now also recently joined the elite circle of these regions.
