From the Prosecco Hills to Tokyo a bicycle bridge for sustainable mobility

On the occasion of the Valdobbiadene event on 28 September, a government delegation from the metropolitan city of Tokyo will arrive in the Prosecco hills with the organizers of the Rainbow Bridge Ride, the most important amateur cycling event in the Land of the Rising Sun. Massimo Stefani: “With the World Cycling Sustainable Events project we aim to represent the five continents on the topic of sustainable mobility”

New York, Cape Town, Vancouver and now Tokyo. Prosecco Cycling and the World Cycling Sustainable Events project are expanding to Japan and its most important amateur cycling event: the Rainbow Bridge Ride, scheduled for 7 December 2025 in Tokyo.

Grand Cycle Tokyo, the organizing company of the event, has expressed its intention to join the World Cycling Sustainable Events project launched by Prosecco Cycling and which already includes three other events among the most attended and important in the world: the TD Five Boro Bike Tour in New York, the Cape Town Cycle Tour and the RBC GranFondo Whistler in Vancouver.

A government delegation from the metropolitan city of Tokyo will arrive in the Prosecco hills at the end of September, on the occasion of the 2025 edition of Prosecco Cycling, with the aim of adhering to the sustainability principles promoted by the World Cycling Sustainable Events project.

The Rainbow Bridge Ride develops along three routes in the heart of Tokyo and involves around 6 thousand cyclists every year. The passage over the Rainbow Bridge, the rainbow bridge, connecting Tokyo to the artificial island of Odaiba, is particularly striking. Inaugurated in 1993, the Rainbow Bridge is one of the most fascinating architectural structures in the Japanese capital and is open to bicycles for only one day a year, the day on which the cycling event takes place.

The guidelines for the promotion and development of environmental sustainability, included in the memorandum of understanding shared by Prosecco Cycling, TD Five Boro Bike Tour, Cape Town Cycle Tour and RBC GranFondo Whistler, provide for the implementation of good practices regarding energy saving, office and warehouse management, transport, logistics, separate waste collection, recycling, choice of suppliers, equipment and materials, to the implementation and improvement of digital functions as a concrete contribution to the reduction or elimination of print media.

With the support of public administrations, the events are committed to promoting sustainable mobility through the use of bicycles as a healthy and ecological means of transport and to identifying tools to promote the creation of sporting events, cycle paths and cycle paths oriented towards environmental protection and sustainability.

In the relationship with partners and suppliers, priority will be given to companies that have undertaken – or are willing to undertake – a path towards full environmental sustainability. Prosecco Cycling, TD Five Boro Bike Tour, Cape Town Cycle Tour and RBC GranFondo Whistler also set out to raise the level of responsibility and participation of the cyclist registered for the event, giving him the role of “Ambassador of sustainable mobility”, so as to obtain thousands and thousands of thematic ambassadors who contribute concretely and “in the field” to promoting the sensitivity of environmental and sustainability comparisons.

“Veneto, the first tourist region in Italy, confirms with this project its vocation for innovation and sustainability in the tourism sector – declares regional tourism councilor Federico Caner -. International collaboration with prominent entities such as Tokyo and other major global events represents an extraordinary opportunity to promote our territory and, in particular, the Hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which perfectly embody the value of the integration between landscape, culture and gentle mobility. Projects such as World Cycling Sustainable Events allow us to establish ourselves not only as a destination of excellence for cycle tourism, but also as a model of responsible tourism, capable of combining economic development, environmental protection and social cohesion. We are proud that our experience is recognized and appreciated internationally and will continue to invest to strengthen this leadership”.

The meeting between the organizers linked to the World Cycling Sustainable Events project will be held on the afternoon of Friday 26 September, in the extraordinary setting of Villa Sandi in Crocetta del Montello. And on this occasion, the Japanese delegation, interested in the project launched by Prosecco Cycling, will also be welcomed.

“Prosecco Cycling – adds the president of Villa Sandi, Giancarlo Moretti Polegato – is undoubtedly an opportunity and a tool to make this area, rich in natural beauty and historical evidence, known internationally. More and more tourists are choosing to discover the area and enjoy the landscape of the Prosecco hills by bicycle, thanks to which you can grasp closer, slower perspectives in harmony with the environment. The growing attention to sustainability also sees our company involved with the project “Villa Sandi for Life”, as custodians and custodians of a heritage of traditions and natural beauty to be protected and preserved for the generations of tomorrow. It is a privilege to host this meeting on sustainable mobility at Villa Sandi, where the most important players at a global level will gather. This is a great opportunity to strengthen the concept that the Prosecco hills are a global cycle tourism destination”.

Also enthusiastic about the initiative was the mayor of Valdobbiadene Luciano Fregonese who, after making headlines internationally for being the inspirer and protagonist of group walks in the Prosecco hills, promised to participate in the next Prosecco Cycling by cycling the route which, extending for 100 km, will cross 14 municipalities of the denomination.

“Having participated in Prosecco Cycling’s trips abroad, I had the opportunity to personally verify the development of the project and the attention encountered internationally by Prosecco Cycling – comments Fregonese -. Very important companies were involved which now, thanks to Prosecco Cycling, know the hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene not only as an area suited to the production of Prosecco Superiore, but also as one of the best destinations for cycling and cycle tourism in the world”.

Massimo Stefani, executive manager of Prosecco Cycling, has long cultivated the World Cycling Sustainable Events project: “This is an idea that looks to the future and represents a unique example among mass sporting events. The objectives are ambitious and have in common four events of international importance which every year involve a total of around 75 thousand enthusiasts who they define as ambassadors of sustainable mobility. The interest shown by the Japanese organizers augurs well. With the World Cycling Sustainable Events project we would ideally like to sit on the same table on the five continents and, thanks to Japan, we would already have four: Europe, America, Africa and Asia united in the name of environmental sustainability”.

As part of the World Cycling Sustainable Events project, Prosecco Cycling, TD Five Boro Bike Tour of New York, Cape Town Cycle Tour and RBC GranFondo Whistler of Vancouver have already carried out important activities, which demonstrate in concrete terms the activity of the pool of events that have signed the agreement in compliance with the guidelines and principles established by the memorandum of understanding. The TD Five Boro Bike Tour New York, for example, avoided sending the race package and the technical envelope to your home, thus avoiding packaging and more travel of vehicles and people by delivering it to participants at the World Trade Center. An environmental assessment was shared, together with the choice of suppliers who are aligned with the organizational needs related to environmental sustainability. The group of organizers of the World Cycling Sustainable Events offered advice for the development of an extensive network of cycle paths in the City of New York that has over 2,400 km of dedicated and shared routes that includes a million-dollar financial commitment from the administration to expand and improve safety for those who cycle. Then there is the result of the joint communication which saw an exponential increase in the number of foreign participants, especially at Prosecco Cycling. From these bases, new common objectives will be planned which will be discussed and established during the meeting on 26 September.

At Prosecco Cycling in 55 thousand – Just under two months after the event, registrations for Prosecco Cycling are flying, reaching two thousand. And about half of the members are foreigners. The continuous and massive promotional activity carried out in recent years by Prosecco Cycling will transform, in the last weekend of September, Valdobbiadene into the world capital of cycle tourism with thousands of enthusiasts from all over the world. The numbers of Prosecco Cycling are, moreover, eloquent: in the total of the 21 editions held so far, around 55 thousand enthusiasts from 35 countries took part in the event. And in 2024, there were as many as 2,700 registered for the event. An indisputable international vocation and best interpreted by a special partner like Biko, an agency founded in Prague by the Italian Filippo Mari specialized in organizing “five-star” tours in Europe and the United States. Yet another opportunity to best promote the “Unesco” hills of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene as one of the destinations for cycling and cycle tourism in the world.

The arrival in Piazza Marconi? Not before 11.40 – The 2025 edition of Prosecco Cycling will also be the bearer of another innovation that will revolutionize the approach to mass events, especially in terms of safety that the organizer wants to guarantee from the first to the last of the participants. In fact, Prosecco Cycling has designed and introduced a sort of “minimum time”: those who complete the route through the hills involving 14 municipalities in the DOCG area, before 11.40 am, will not be included in the ranking. Considering that the departure in Piazza Marconi in Valdobbiadene is scheduled for 8.30, it means that Prosecco Cycling participants will not be able to reach the finish line in less than 3 hours 10’. The invitation that Prosecco Cycling has always addressed to participants will be strengthened – pedal without haste, raise your head from the handlebars and enjoy the landscape you will encounter along the way through the vineyards – but above all the Valdobbiadene event will offer an even more unprecedented and engaging: because in these parts, where the party begins at the end, there is no reason to always push hard on the pedals. The ranking format of the Valdobbiadene event – which can be summarized with the formula “less competitive spirit, more fun” – is truly unique. At Prosecco Cycling the fastest don’t win, far from it. The party reaches its peak with the arrival of the last place finisher. The individual ranking is determined by the travel time of three timed climbs: Via Busi (1600 metres, 8.9% average gradient), Ca’ del Poggio (1200 metres, 11.7%) and Collalto (1500 metres, 6, 3%). There are also three team rankings. The Fun Team will crown the team that achieves the best time until the conclusion of the third timed climb, with the particularity that the group must be made up of at least five cyclists who will to pass the finish line within 30”.

Another ranking will reward teams capable of placing the highest number of cyclists at the finish line in the space of 30”. Then there is a special prize, represented by the ranking “We2gether”: it will go to the team that will show up on the finish line creating the scenography that will best interpret the spirit of the event. Important detail: the choice to compete for one ranking will not preclude participation in all the others, even the individual one.