Italy, the country that is perhaps most associated with a love of cars, has reported last year's sales of bicycles higher than sales of cars.
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With fuel prices rising steadily, more than 1.75 million bicycles were sold in Italy in 2011, while the number of new cars sold fell to a record low of 1.748m. Bicycles with additional electrical power are the latest hit, but the roads are likely to get fuller, as Italy only has 4000 kilometres of cycle tracks, a tenth of the amount in Germany.
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