A new cross-border cycling event called 'All Routes Lead to Brussels' will see a team of recreational cyclists riding from Mugla, Turkey, to Brussels through 12 European cities from 24 July to 9 September. The event is a new feature of the year-round NowWeMOVE campaign calendar, and each city the 2,700km tour travels through will offer a variety of side events to raise awareness about the benefits of an active lifestyle.

The NowWeMOVE campaign’s Turkish national coordinator, Feridun Ekmekci, and his organisation Muğla Association of Energy Efficiency and Environment Preservation (ENVERÇEVKO) are organising the event in collaboration with ISCA. Aside from attracting the public through a “come and try” approach, the event will see local politicians, active transport, tourism and environmental stakeholders taking part in the side events, which will include a visit to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's house in Thessaloniki, Greece, and a tribute to French cyclist Christian Jean Auguste Niaffe, who was killed in an accident in Turkey last year.

Cycling has great potential to communicate the important cross-sector aspect of the NowWeMOVE campaign: at the very same time, it is a mode of transportation, recreation, tourism and sport competition. Cycling can be a key driver to showcase the many ways in and outside of sport that people can become more active in their everyday lives. On top of this, the side events will propose many more activities than cycling that people can try. The final event planned for 9 September 2015 will be synchronised with the flagship EWoS event in Brussels.

Updates will be posted to the official webpage here

Read more in the Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah Life (in English)