VIDEO. We tested the bike in Marseille, one of the worst cities for cyclists in France.

In the distance we see her air bundle. Dmitry Payet pedals like a dancer, not far from our camera. The Olympique Marseille player is one of many Marseille residents who, since 2019, have been taking advantage of the sunny end of the day to cycle along the Corniche along the cycle path overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

This postcard-perfect two-way route may almost make you forget about the Phocian city’s shortcomings in terms of cycling.

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Marseille, the red lantern of big cities for cyclists

According to the French Cycling Federation’s (FUB) 2019 Cycling Cities Barometer, Marseille still ranks last among cities with a population of over 200,000 for cycling.

Her worst score is 11th out of 11 and has a poor G rating, the worst possible. “If there was a Z rating, we would have it too,” quips Cyril Pimentel, coordinator of the Collectif Vélos en Ville, a major cycling association in Marseille. General feeling, safety, comfort, parking options, municipal efforts: almost all the lights here are red.

“Riding a bicycle in Marseille is very dangerous.”

“The cornice is good, but then everything outside of it is a little more difficult. There are no bike paths here, and sometimes cars are parked on them,” laments Bastien, an occasional cyclist. “Everything is going well, there is progress, but there is still a lot to be done,” says Cyril, who cycles to work every day. “Cycling in Marseille is very dangerous,” laments Christiane, an elderly woman who nevertheless “does everything by bicycle.”

“The barometer is based on the feelings of the population, this is the most important thing,” explains Cyril Pimentel from the collective Vélos en Ville. Here the barometer measures what people do not feel comfortable.” And for good reason, despite the new temporary “coronavirus” route on Canebière and this panoramic route on the Corniche, Marseille’s cycling network is still in its infancy.

“Marseille’s bicycle facilities are hypocritical”

In the city center, many of the trails are laid out on the sidewalk, among pedestrians, and are difficult to use unless you apply a lot of patience and some subtle tightrope walking skills.

Following a few directions, we took turns at a garage sale, in front of a shellfish vendor’s stand, and then in the middle of the Prado Market. “The cycling facilities in Marseille are hypocritical. We put a sign on you, tell you to share space with pedestrians, and all this time the whole space belongs to the car,” complains Cyril Pimentel. To make matters worse, these bike spaces are often worn out, barely visible, or even turned into temporary parking lots by rushing motorists.

Intermittent and inconsistent cycling network

The collaborative map, updated very regularly, also allows us to notice the lack of continuity of the network: long segments disconnected from each other and a few appendages of infrastructure that appear on their own in the corner of the map.

Without a logical overall plan, many infrastructures come to a sudden halt. “Well, then you take your bike and disappear,” jokes Charlotte Casel, who has been cycling daily in Marseille for four years. “This was not thought out, it was done in haste,” deciphers this photographer and school leader.

On the Boulevard Michelet, near the Stade Vélodrome, Cyril Pimentel finds himself walking in circles, at the end of a track fenced off by several off-limits lanes and a sea of ​​cars accelerating in the opposite direction. “I have no choice but to turn around,” he sighs.

Daily friction with motorized vehicles

Another major obstacle is that in France’s second busiest city, cohabiting with cars can sometimes be a nightmare. When starting at a red light, Charlotte Caselles is overtaken by an impatient car that is not shy about pressing the gas pedal vigorously. “We start the engine, we touch you, and all this to tell you that you are not fast enough for them,” seethes the thirty-year-old. “This is typical of Marseille. Everything here is made for the car.”

To combat this motorized violence, she co-founded Les Déchaîné·e·s, a cyclo-feminist collective fighting to reclaim public space through cycling in urban areas. “To make it more enjoyable, we need to create real bike lanes that are consistent, don’t go onto sidewalks, and that we promote more cycling!” “, defends this dedicated cyclist. “Stop giving preference to the car! »

“We can do wonderful things here. The only thing needed is political will. If we don’t limit the car’s space, people will continue to use it,” says Cyril Pimentel.

Eight express lines by 2030

“We have a lot of progress to make, and we know it,” says Audrey Gatian, deputy for urban policy and mobility at Marseille city hall. The new municipality, which emerged from an alliance of leftists and environmentalists, says it is actively building paths on roadways and separating them from traffic.

Except she doesn’t have the competence to act and must work with the Republican-controlled metropolis of Aix-Marseille. “At the moment we have somewhat complicated relations with the metropolis. [qui] more stripes on the model [de pistes cyclables] » Audrey Gatian regrets.

For its part, the metropolis is developing a 30 million euro cycling plan for Marseille. Eight express lines should be commissioned by 2030, and several sections by 2024. But the project is already significantly behind schedule.

So Marseille cyclists will still have to be patient to ride more calmly around their city.

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