British Cycling have revealed an all-time high in membership numbers as the sport continues to feel the benefits from Team GB's cycling success.
Cycling on the up as memberships continue to rise
British Cycling have revealed an all-time high in membership numbers as the sport continues to feel the benefits from Team GB's cycling success.
Cycling's profile has continued to sky-rocket with the exploits of Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton and the rest of the team out in Beijing at the Olympics.
The track success has continued with younger stars such as Lizzie Armitstead coming through and winning World Cup events, while the high-profile backing with
Sky has boosted cycling's image yet further.
To reflect this, British Cycling has now hit the heights of having 25,000 members for the first time, with a record 13,000 riders now holding full racing licences.
Sport England figures just released also show that cycling is the second fastest growing sport in Great Britain - all of which makes great riding for British Cycling chief executive Ian Drake.
"This is a unique moment in time for cycling, from our success in Beijing in the summer through to the immense number of people getting involved in the sport," said Drake.
Growth
"When you take cycling as a sport, recreational activity and form of transport it would easily make cycling the number one and fastest growing activity in England.
"However, I believe that this is just the beginning. We are now awaiting confirmation of funding from Sport England to allow us to grow our programmes and to grow the sport even more between 2009 and 2013.
"With the anticipated support from Sport England combined with our partnership with BSKYB, British Cycling has the potential to make the single biggest contribution to more people playing sport in the run up to London 2012 and beyond."
At the beginning of British Cycling's current funding cycle in 2005, British Cycling had 15,000 members and 8,500 cyclists with racing licences, meaning a rise of 10,000 in three years.
British Cycling president Brian Cookson OBE said: "25,000 members and 13,000 licence holders is a real milestone for British Cycling and is a great way to end what has been a fantastic year for us.
"Our membership growth is testament to the hard work and dedication of all our volunteers at a national, regional and club level and I would like to personally thank everyone for the contribution they have made to British Cycling's growth."
