Over 10,000 Cyclists Join Liverpool Sky Ride

10,000 cyclists of all ages and abilities joined defending Tour of Britain champion, Sir Bradley Wiggins and fellow Team Sky teammates Ben Swift and Ian Stannard, as well as Olympian Jess Varnish, at Liverpool’s first ever Sky Ride Big Bike Event on Sunday.

Ahead of the Tour of Britain – won last year by Wiggins – which began in Liverpool at the weekend, residents and visitors took to traffic-free streets for the Sky Ride Big Bike Event, run by British Cycling and Sky, in partnership with Liverpool City Council.

The event gave participants the chance to cycle some of the Tour of Britain circuit, involving an 8km route that took in landmarks including Sefton Park, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, and the Albert Dock.

Visitors were also able to see the bikes used by Team Sky and the Great Britain Cycling Team at The Hub in Sefton Park, while the Tricks & Tunes area – new to Sky Ride this year – gave them the chance to try out some extreme cycling, watch stunt demos from the Voodoo Unicycles team, and take part in Go Ride skills sessions for under-16s.

In addition, Halfords cycle experts carried out free bike checks and minor repairs.

The riders were also accompanied by TV-presenter and Sky Ride ambassador, Davina McCall, who said: ‘Loved my first ever Sky Ride today, it was so great to meet so many lovely people of all ages and cycle the traffic-free streets of Liverpool.’

‘It’s been a great day with a proper festival atmosphere and seeing everyone’s smiling faces was amazing. Cycling is a great, sociable way to keep fit and explore your city; I hope everyone in Liverpool keeps on their bikes, and thanks for having me!’

Sir Bradley Wiggins added: ‘I’m a big advocate of Sky Ride; I think it’s a brilliant way of encouraging people to get out on their bikes and it was great to see thousands of Liverpudlians enjoying Sky Ride on the same day as Stage One in Liverpool. Cycling’s more popular than ever before in the UK, with over a million more people cycling regularly – which is great for the sport we love and a testament to Sky and British Cycling which have been at the heart of this transformation.’ 

Sky Ride was shortlisted for Community Programme of the Year at the BT Sport Industry Awards 2014.