Olympic cyclist warns of 'inactivity crisis'

Chris Boardman has been made a CBE for his work to promote cycling and walking

Olympic cyclist Chris Boardman has warned the UK is experiencing an "inactivity crisis" as he picked up an honour from Buckingham Palace for his work to promote cycling and walking.

The athlete, from Hoylake, Merseyside, made the comments after he was made a CBE by Princess Anne on Thursday.

Boardman, who won gold in the men's individual pursuit cycling at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, was appointed as Active Travel England commissioner in June 2022.

The role makes him responsible for the government's agency for working to make walking, wheeling and cycling people's preferred choice for transport in England.

He said: "It's important that we recognise that it's the foundation of a sustainable transport system."

'Going up and up'

New data from Transport for London has shown the number of daily cycle journeys in the capital in 2024 had increased to an estimated 1.33 million journeys per day - up by 26% since 2019.

Boardman, 56, praised the data but said work was needed to see the same trend ticking upwards across the country.

Boardman won gold in the men's individual pursuit cycling at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona

He said: "It's been going up and up since 2010 because it's just an easy way for people to get around.

"We can do that for the whole nation, where we have an inactivity crisis.

"That would really make a difference - and it doesn't harm decarbonisation as well."

Earlier this year, Boardman took part in a 550 mile (885 km) ride from Manchester to Paris, where he visited many different sports clubs leading the way on sustainability, including plans to be net zero by 2029.