EuroVelo Celebrates its 28th Anniversary with More Than 90,000 km of Cycling Routes Across 39 Countries

November 23, 2025 - Launched on November 21, 1997 in Logroño, Spain, EuroVelo began as an ambitious idea to connect Europe by bicycle, and 28 years later, it has become a well-established network of 17 long-distance cycling routes spanning more than 90,000 km across 39 countries.

EuroVelo celebrates 28 years of of cross-border cycling cooperation. ©

EuroVelo is developed and coordinated on the transnational level by the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) in cooperation with a network of 26 National EuroVelo Coordination Centres (NECCs).

A European success story of cross-border cooperation, the inspiration for the creation of EuroVelo was the launch of Denmark’s cycling network back in 1993, the first official national cycling route system in Europe.

In 1995, a working group chaired by Jens Erik Larsen (Denmark) was formed at the annual general meeting of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) in Brussels. Along with Rein Lepik (Estonia), Chris Heymans (SLF), Richard König (ADFC) and Martin Robes (Czech and Slovak Trafic Club), these pioneers laid the foundation of a proposal for 12 European Cycle Routes.

Following conferences in Amersfoort, The Netherlands and Bruges, Belgium, Larsen and his team had devised a map of the proposed routes. By 1997, the group secured the needed funding from the European Union to launch EuroVelo which was described by Robert Coleman, Director of Transport at the European Commission, as “an economic force with significant untapped potential.”

Today, EuroVelo is one of the ECF’s flagship initiatives. With 64% of the network developed, signage can currently be found over 35,000km across 24 European countries.