IN BRIEF
The 6e edition of Mai à vélo (May by bike) ended in late May. The collective claims 5,592 events held across France, 1,783 of them in person. Run with the Geovelo app, the activity challenge logged 19.8 million kilometres ridden, up 29% year on year. More than 225,000 cyclists took part.
The counter stopped at 19.8 million kilometres. That is the total distance covered by participants in the Mai à vélo activity challenge, once again run this year with the Geovelo app. That is 29% more than in 2025 and, according to the organisers, the equivalent of 494 times around the Earth.
The Geovelo challenge climbs sharply
The activity challenge remains the clearest gauge of the operation. According to the collective, 225,454 people took part, with a 19% rise in active participants. In all, 3,809 communities — companies, schools, local authorities, clubs — were created on the app to track their kilometres.
By the organisers’ calculations, the distance covered represents 4,308 tonnes of CO₂ avoided compared with the same journeys by car. A theoretical figure, but one that gives a sense of what a month of mobilisation weighs.
More than 5,500 events across France
Beyond the Geovelo counter, Mai à vélo is also measured in events. The collective counts 5,592 of them across the whole operation, 1,783 of them in person: rides, repair workshops, second-hand bike sales, school activities. To publicise them, the organisers say they distributed 614 banners, 31,475 postcards and 20,000 copies of the children’s magazine Astrapi.
A detail in tune with the times: the 1,300 parcels of communication materials were sent to pickup points rather than to home addresses, saving around 533 kg of CO₂ on the last kilometre, according to Mondial Relay.
From the French transport ministry to the European Parliament
The 2026 edition was also punctuated by institutional set pieces. The main launch, on Saturday 2 May, brought together ten bike rides in every corner of the country. In Paris, the Vélo in Paris festival drew 11,500 visitors and eight round tables. The French transport ministry hosted a second Journée Vélo & Influence, devoted to telling the story of cycling better. And in Strasbourg, two round tables at the European Parliament tackled the identification of bicycles and the regulation of illegal bikes, before a ride with MEPs.
Mai à vélo acts as both an incubator and an accelerator for every cycling-related project. Both a starting point and a finish line to celebrate our small everyday victories.
Caroline Rey and Henri Goguet-Chapuis, co-chairs of EcoBram&Co
Momentum that is taking hold
Launched in 2021 at the instigation of the French ecological transition and sports ministries, and run by a group of associations including the French cyclists’ federation FUB (Fédération française des usagers de la bicyclette), Mai à vélo has grown year on year. The operation claims 2,800 press mentions between April and June, and the backing of public and private partners, from AFIT France to the rail operator SNCF.
The underlying challenge remains, the one the collective has set out from the start: turning the enthusiasm of one month of May into a habit for the rest of the year.
