#btsia Post-match Interview: British Cycling
Ian Drake, CEO of British Cycling, reflects on another year of success after the organisation received the Sport Governing Body of the Year Award, supported by The Daily Telegraph, at the BT Sport Industry Awards 2013.
Being named as the Governing Body of the Year at this year’s BT Sport Industry Awards provided a significant marker of the success British Cycling has achieved as an organisation in recent years across elite performance, grassroots participation and membership.
Cycling was the sport that redefined our national sporting identity in 2012 as we saw the first British winner of the Tour de France and took 16 gold medals home from the sporting event of the year, London 2012.
Adding the Governing Body of the Year award to our palmarès, to use a cycling term, was a proud achievement and testament to the hard work of everyone involved with British Cycling from staff, sponsors, members and riders. Most importantly though, it was recognition for the army of volunteers at both regional and club level upon whom the sport relies heavily.
And, like every sporting governing body, we also owe a great deal to our backers – in particular, UK Sport, Sport England and Sky.
The reputation of the BT Sport Industry Awards boosted our standing as an organisation that profits from meticulous planning and creative thinking to produce great results in competition. This year we have been determined to not only match, but also build on the success of 2012.
In terms of elite performance, Chris Froome followed Bradley Wiggins’ lead by becoming the second consecutive British winner of the Tour de France, while Rachel Atherton, Becky James and Liam Philips have all become world champions across their respective disciplines of mountain bike, track and BMX.
These performances are inspiring the next generation and we are working to deliver more major international cycling events than ever before to leave a lasting legacy of increased participation across all forms of the sport.
Nationally, we have launched a campaign to get one million more women cycling by 2020, including ensuring that we are more representative with plans to encourage more women to take on influential positions throughout all aspects of the sport.
Our membership has continued to increase at record levels with current numbers topping 83,000 – over 30,000 more members than we had when Bradley Wiggins crossed the line in Paris in July last year. Our increased membership is being boosted through more investment in facilities, including a new velodrome in Derby, a mountain bike trail in Manchester and a closed road circuit in York.
All of our work is against a backdrop of increased influence at a national governmental level as we look to ensure that cycling as a mode of transport appeals to all people. The Prime Minister’s guarantee, made at a British Cycling event in August, that all future transport projects will be designed with provision for cycling is a huge step in the right direction and we are looking to the Government to make good on that commitment.
Some suspected that 2013 could be a year in which sport took a step back after London 2012. However, I am proud to say that is not the case for cycling.
This week we launched British Cycling: Our Commitment, our strategy for the next four years, and it makes two things clear. Right now is the best time to be involved in cycling in Britain and the future looks even better.
