ZANDVOORT (Reuters) - The environmentalists and nature lovers who spent the past two years unsuccessfully trying to keep Formula One out of the Dutch dune reserve in Zandvoort might at least be pleased with one aspect of the race: how the fans got there.

Almost 25,000 fans on Friday opted to use a bicycle for a large part of their journey to the track, 25 kilometres (15 miles) west of Amsterdam, organisers said, while some 27,000 took the train, as nearly all cars were banned from the small beach resort.