The University of Gdańsk has come second in the Higher Education Institutions category in the competition “Cycle for Gdańsk / Kręć kilometry dla Gdańska – European Cycling Challenge” with a total of 26,233.5 km covered, behind Gdańsk University of Technology (48,353.6 km) and ahead of the Medical University of Gdańsk (9,830.9 km).
For the third time Gdańsk was awarded the title of the Best Cycling Leaderboard in Europe with a total of 1,800.6 km per 1,000 residents. Other top cities include the Lithuanian city of Telšiai (1,657.3 km per 1,000 residents) and Umeå in Sweden (1,481.9 km per 1,000 residents). Congratulations to all those taking part.
As part of the European Cycling Challenge, the UG’s ALTERNATOR Academic Culture Centre organised the “Cycle for the UG” competition which enjoyed the active participation of numerous university students and staff under the patronage of the Rector of the University of Gdańsk, Prof. Jerzy Gwizdała.
First place in the “Cycle for the UG” competition went to Mirosław Grabowicz (UG employee), who covered 2,523 km, second place to Joanna Piechowiak (UG student) with 1,952 km and third to Joanna Krajewska (UG doctoral student), with 1,138 km. The Rector of the UG funded prizes for the winners − for first place a bike worth 2,000 PLN (Kross Trans Pacific); for second place, bike accessories to the value of 600 PLN, and for third place, bike accessories to the value of 400 PLN. The prizes were presented by Vice-Rector for Student Affairs, Prof. Arnold Kłonczyński during the Gdańsk Bike Picnic which took place on 10 June 2017.
Gdańsk has repeated the success of the previous two years when it won in the Best Cycling Leaderboard with 1,800.6 km/1,000 residents (data from 2017). In the general category, given the number of kilometres cycled, it came second (831,496.7 km), right behind the Turkish city of İzmir (855,002.1 km). In 2015 and 2016 Gdańsk came first in both categories. In 2015 Gdańsk cyclists covered a total of 451,533 km and a year later nearly twice that, with 825,550 km covered. Another important result is nearly 1,000 km/1,000 residents in 2015 and 1,788 km/1,000 residents the following year. This year a total of 52 cities took part in the challenge, including Rome, Dublin, Lisbon and Barcelona. Gdańsk participants in the challenge comprised 130 companies, 36 districts, 25 lower secondary schools and 15 higher education institutions.
Major scores (total number of kilometres covered):
The most active cities in the City Leaderboard (number of kilometres per 1,000 residents):
About the competition:
European Cycling Challenge is a European city cycling challenge, initiated by the city of Bologna in 2012 and traditionally held in the month of May. The competition is open to all residents of the participating cities or those who commute to those cities to work/school/university etc. The journeys which count are those in which a bicycle can be a substitute for another means of transport (e.g. a car or a motorbike) while getting to and from school/work/cinema/shop etc. More information available at: http://www.cyclingchallenge.eu/pl.
UG Press Office
