A new cycle path linking Ventimiglia and Menton has secured almost €2 million in funding, forming the first stretch of the Ciclovia Tirrenica and a section of the EuroVelo 8 Mediterranean Route that will eventually run the length of the Italian and French coastlines.

The funding was announced on Tuesday at the launch of EDUMOB3, a three-year sustainable mobility project backed by the Interreg France-Italy ALCOTRA programme and largely financed by the European Regional Development Fund. The project is led by the Liguria region, working alongside the municipality of Ventimiglia, the Alpes-Maritimes department and the municipality of Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, with completion expected by June 2028.

Closing the final cross-border gap

The centrepiece of the project is a new cycle path between the Italian border and the Balzi Rossi museum in Ventimiglia, which will close the last gap in a continuous cross-border cycling route along the coast, connecting directly into the existing path on the French side. On the French side of the border, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin will upgrade a stretch of Avenue Winston Churchill to strengthen the link towards Menton, with the Alpes-Maritimes department coordinating the cross-border technical work. Beyond the infrastructure itself, the project also includes an educational strand aimed at encouraging everyday cycling among schools and residents.

Part of a wider coastal cycling network

Liguria’s infrastructure councillor, Giacomo Raul Giampedrone, said the project carried particular symbolic weight, since the Ventimiglia stretch will mark the starting point of the Ciclovia Tirrenica, a route planned to run from Ventimiglia to Rome.

He noted that 45 kilometres of the route between Ospedaletti and Andora had opened only days earlier, with the wider route expected to bring environmental, sporting and tourism benefits as it crosses the Ligurian coast.

Ventimiglia’s mayor, Flavio Di Muro, framed the project as part of a broader ambition for the town. “I think a mayor, beyond managing the day-to-day life of his community, also needs a vision for the future that looks at the new challenges facing the city, while promoting its tourism potential,” he said, adding that the goal was for Ventimiglia to be recognised not as a border town but as an international one.