Is Rome ready for a cycling 'revolution'?

Women ride their bicycle across the Sant'Angelo bridge on April 07,2021 in Rome. - With its historic seven hills, crazy traffic, cobbles and notoriously crumbling roads, Rome has never been the ideal city for cyclists -- but with the coronavirus pandemic, things are changing. – Photo: AFP

With its historic seven hills, crazy traffic, cobbles and notoriously crumbling roads, Rome has never been the ideal city for cyclists -- but with the coronavirus pandemic, things are changing.

As elsewhere, streets emptied by Covid-19 restrictions have given cyclists room to breathe, but a new network of bike lanes and generous government subsidies to buy bicycles have also helped fuel the boom.