Nice welcomes top sailing teams with bicycle scheme

The city of Nice in France, on the Mediterranean coast, has recently become yet another popular international destination with its own cohort of bicycles available for public use.

The Velo Bleu ('blue bicycle') system has been operational since the summer months, and the deputy mayor, Benoit Kandel, welcomed some of the world's top sailing teams to Nice by generously offering them the use of up to 200 of the cycles during their stay.

Teams competing in the inaugural Louis Vuitton World Series have been arriving in Nice over the last few weeks in preparation for the new competition's high profile first stage which is scheduled to run from Saturday, November 7 until Sunday, November 22.

Thanks to the pioneering examples of Portland in the USA and European capitals Copenhagen and Amsterdam, city bicycle sharing schemes have enjoyed global recognition in recent years.

The French cities of Lyon, Paris, and Montpellier have all implemented similar schemes in 2005, 2007 and 2008 respectively, while La Rochelle was way ahead of its time in 1974 when it launched one of the first ever city bike shares.

Velo Bleu in Nice: velobleu.org/nice
LV World Series Trophy: LouisVuittonTrophy.com