Former Olympic champion cycles to Paris to raise climate change awareness

An Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist is undertaking an eight-day bike ride from Manchester to Paris to raise awareness of the effects of climate change.

Chris Boardman, who won gold for Great Britain in the men’s individual cycling event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and was awarded a CBE (College of British Columbia) on the King’s birthday, started the Pedal for Paris challenge from Manchester on July 16.

He told the PA news agency on the first day of the cycle: “We’ve already had a good example of climate change – really torrential rain.

“However, it is quite warm and we are now on our way to Ashbourne, our first overnight stop.”

The challenge is expected to end in Paris on July 23. Mr Boardman will cover a total of 550 miles, visiting locations including Loughborough, Milton Keynes and Dieppe.

Mr Boardman is chairman of Sport England, a government body that aims to develop grassroots sport and encourage more people in England to become active. He said the cycle was devised last year.

“Sport England launched our environmental strategy earlier this year and it is quite bold,” he said.

“It essentially means that anyone who wants access to government money must have an environmental strategy and action plan by 2027.

“Part of it – making it visible – is that we thought Paris wanted to be the most sustainable Olympic Games ever.

“It has been almost 10 years since the Paris Climate Agreement was signed.

“What is the most sustainable way to travel on the planet?

“Let’s cycle there and along the way not only raise awareness about climate change and the impact it has on sport, but also visit some projects that are doing good things.”

With the Olympics just around the corner, he said he would take a bet that Team GB’s cycling team will have a “successful” Games.

“The cycling team is competitive on all levels, they have a lot of young talent,” he said.

“I was very sad to see that Katie Archibald, who had an accident and broke her ankle, was not in the picture. That happened only a few weeks ago.

“We have riders like Tom Pidcock who is going to ride the mountain bike race – he has just come from the Tour de France.

“It should be interesting, I’d bet – very successful.”

Mr Boardman will be joined on part of the ride by renowned athletes including former England rugby players James Haskall and Mike Tindall, who will be riding tandem bikes, naturalist and explorer Steve Backshall and former champion athlete Lord Coe.

Sport England has launched a Going for Green effort which is supported by more than 80 organisations including The Football Association, England Athletics and Paddle UK.

The initiative aims to encourage more people to take part in outdoor and natural activities, increase the recycling and reuse of sports equipment, promote sustainable transport options and reduce the use of single-use plastics.