Skip to main content

Cycling in chains?

In France an unusual cycle race has been held, for prisoners. Some 200 felons have been allowed out of the prison walls to race bicycles around the country, while under close watch from prison guards. This 2,300km race is no easy saunter around the park however, starting in the historic city of Lille, passing through 17 towns along the way and finishing in capital Paris. The aim of this unusual project is to help the men reintegrate into society by fostering values such as effort, teamwork and self-esteem,
February 29, 2012 Read time: 1 min
In France an unusual cycle race has been held, for prisoners. Some 200 felons have been allowed out of the prison walls to race bicycles around the country, while under close watch from prison guards. This 2,300km race is no easy saunter around the park however, starting in the historic city of Lille, passing through 17 towns along the way and finishing in capital Paris. The aim of this unusual project is to help the men reintegrate into society by fostering values such as effort, teamwork and self-esteem, according to the organisers.

Related Content

  • Mega city transport in Mexico
    June 13, 2012
    Rapid urban growth is resulting in massive mega cities with major transport needs and Mexico City is one of the world’s largest – Mike Woof reports Mexico City is a vast, sprawling metropolis and one of the world’s largest cities, resulting in huge problems for its inhabitants, particularly with regard to infrastructure. Measuring population size is an inexact science for large cities as suburban areas can add to the figures considerably, especially in developing nations where unplanned expansion is as comm
  • Budapest’s Széchenyi Chain Bridge reopens
    December 22, 2022
    Although open, for the time being only buses, taxis, bicycles and motorcycles can use the famous 19th century bridge that links Buda and Pest which make up the Hungarian capital.
  • Bentley creates digital production chain for Pont-de-Veyle bypass
    September 14, 2016
    Pont-de-Veyle is a picturesque village of around 1,600 people in France’s eastern Rhones-Alps region. Being in a tourist area and close to major towns and cities meant that traffic – around 9,000 vehicles a day through its small streets – was becoming a concern The village sits about 30km from the larger town of Bourg-en-Bresse, towards the Swiss border. It also lies around 60km from the city of Lyon, all in the Department of Ain. The regional administrative authority Ain created the Conseil Départementa
  • Highway developments to boost east-west transport
    April 4, 2012
    Huge highway developments are being planned and carried out to further improve East-West transport, with Central Asia a key region as Patrick Smith reports History was made in late 2010, when one of the biggest road building projects ever envisaged in Eastern Europe was given the green-light. It was the occasion when Russian president Dmitry Medvedev signed a law that would allow his country to build its segment of a huge highway around the Black Sea. The idea is to complete the 7,140km highway, wi