Final stage of the Tour de France with Velib' on July 27th in Paris

Paris, July 2nd 2008

On the occasion of the first anniversary of Velib’, the City of Paris is organizing on July 27 th , in partnership with the Tour de France and JCDecaux, the “Champions’ ride” for 365 long-term Velib’ subscribers (1 year).

A draw will be organised to select the 365 participants at the end of a competitive game to which long-term subscribers will be invited to take part on July 4 by email.

The persons selected will have the opportunity to ride part of the distance covered by the Tour de France cyclists on the same day and cross the finishing line on the Champs Elysées on July 27 th at 11 am. The departure will take place from Paris City Hall. This ride is not a competition between the participants but an opportunity to discover in real life one of the most prestigious stages of the Tour de France.

In the afternoon, the 365 participants will be invited to watch the official arrival of the Tour de France from the tribune.

Velib’ by the numbers one year after its launch

• 198,913 long-term subscribers (one year) – 277,193 seven days subscribers – 3,683,714 one day subscribers.
• More than 26 million bikes rented in a year. The average duration of travels is 18 minutes.
• 1,200 stations today. There will be 1,451 stations by the end of 2008.
• 16,000 Velib’ in circulation today. There will be 20,600 by the end of 2008.
• A network of 400 km of bike lanes has been created in Paris. 100 km of them are bus corridors accessible to cyclists.

Bikes account for 2 to 3% of all traffic in Paris today.
Between 2001 and 2007, the number of bikers in Paris has increased by 94%, whereas car traffic has dropped 20%.

Velib’ is a great popular success and 94% of users say they are satisfied with the service and plan to subscribe for another year. 61% of long-term subscribers use Velib’ as a daily transportation means to go to work or to school.

Profile of Velib’ users *
39% of Velib’ users are aged between 26 and 35 and 33% of them come from the suburbs.
58% of long-term subscribers are men, but 65% of short-term subscribers are women.

*Velib’ satisfaction poll made by TNS Sofres Institute in March 2008.

Press contacts :
Mairie de Paris - Nathalie Royer : 01 42 76 49 61 - service.presse@paris.fr
Tour de France - Christophe Marchadier : 06 07 02 42 17 - cmarchadier@aso.fr
JCDecaux - Agathe Albertini : 01 30 79 34 99 - agathe.albertini@jcdecaux.fr