Denmark nicer for cyclists, but Dutch ride bikes more

Denmark is the most bike-friendly country, edging out cycling rivals in the Netherlands, the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF) revealed in their their second-ever Cycling Barometer. Even though Denmark takes the first place in cycling advocacy, the Netherlands landed on top for cycling usage, ECF reported.

It is the group's first new Cycling Barometer since the first was published in 2013. The Netherlands beat out Denmark in that analysis. The idea behind the data-driven report is to bring a multi-dimensional view on cycling in all European Union countries, according to ECF. The organization acknowledges comparing European nations on various scales to be a tricky task, but offers statistical information through five verifiable EU-wide surveys. Each country is given points according to their rank in each field and after scoring in every field, the points are summed up for the final score. Countries following Denmark and Netherlands on the list include Sweden, Finland, Germany and Belgium. Luxembourg took a leap forwards due to the country's low road fatalities record and great cycling advocacy numbers in proportion to population, when compared to the 2013 report. Slovenia also jumped to the seventh place leaving United Kingdom and France behind. However, countries like Hungary, Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia remained relatively stagnant compared to the 2013 statistics and still show room for improvement. Despite great developments in Dublin, Ireland scored quite badly as well, mainly due to bad cycling usage criteria. "The ECF Barometer was built as a talking point to raise awareness on the need to get good cycling data. It was a big success last time so we hope to see the discussion continue again this year," said Chloé Mispelon, the project leader for the barometer.