British Cycling
| British Cycling (BC) |
|
|---|---|
|
|
| purpose | Sports association |
| Chair: | Bob Howden |
| Establishment date: | 1959 |
| Number of members: | 100,000 |
| Seat : | National Cycling Center , Manchester |
| Website: | britishcycling.org.uk |
British Cycling is the UK's national cycling association. It was founded in 1959 as a merger of several previous associations.
history
A predecessor to British Cycling was the National Cyclists' Union (NCU), which existed from 1883. In Great Britain, cycling was a working class sport and the wealthy “upper classes” were against it. In order to circumvent an impending ban on cycling, the association banned races on the street and organized them on cycle tracks and closed circuits, probably under pressure from the police and politics. The result was that the Road Racing Council was formed, which was later renamed the Road Time Trials Council (RTTC) and is now called Cycling Time Trials (CTT). The Road Racing Council promoted time trials , which mostly took place in the morning and in front of a small audience, so as not to cause a stir, and organized the British Best All-Rounder competition . The NCU banned drivers and clubs participating in these competitions.
In 1942, one of the best British drivers of the time, Percy Stallard , tried to put pressure on the NCU to allow cycling on the road. When his advance was rejected, he organized a race from Llangollen to Wolverhampton and was banned from the association for it. He and his colleagues then founded a new association, the British League of Racing Cyclists (BLRC). This association was very popular and organized road races, such as a race from Brighton to Glasgow , from which the Tour of Britain developed, and sent teams to races outside the British Isles. Success of British riders in the International Peace Tour led to the first national team being sent to the Tour de France in 1955.
The BLRC and NCU associations remained competitors. Membership in one association precluded membership in the other association. The leading cycling magazine of the time, Cycling , also took a page from the NCU and RTTC. It was only under pressure from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) that the two associations merged to form the British Cycling Federation (BCF) in 1959 , against the resistance of Percy Stallard, who until his death in 2001 believed that this merger was a mistake was.
Since the merger with other associations such as the BMX and Mountain Bike Association, the new name is British Cycling . The RTTC, on the other hand, remained its own association, but organizes the national time trial championships together with British Cycling . In October 2014 the association announced that for the first time in its history it had more than 100,000 members, including 15,500 women; In 2005, British Cycling only had 15,000 members. The association has gained 50,000 new members since the 2012 Olympic Games in London .
The association is a member of the Union Européenne de Cyclisme , the UCI and the British Olympic Association . The association has been based in the National Cycling Center in the Manchester Velodrome since 1994 .
Structures
The structures of British Cycling are complicated due to historical developments. The association oversees road cycling, track cycling , cyclocross , BMX and mountain biking , cycle speedway and road time trials in Scotland .
British Cycling is divided into several regional bodies:
| Nation or territory | Regional body |
|---|---|
 England
|
no association of its own |
 Scotland
|
Scottish Cycling |
 Wales
|
Welsh Cycling |
 Isle of Man
|
Isle of Man Cycling Association |
 Gibraltar
|
Gibraltar Cycling Association |
 jersey
|
Jersey Cycling Association |
There is no national body for England because that is not accepted by the UCI. There are therefore no English teams outside of the Commonwealth Games .
Cycling in Northern Ireland is organized by Cycling Ulster , part of Cycling Ireland .
Team Sky
The Team Sky is a professional team, which was founded by British Cycling has been suggested. The BC President and Vice President also help lead the team. It exists in 2010 and is sponsored by the television broadcaster Sky .
British Cycling Hall of Fame
The British Cycling Hall of Fame with 50 members was inaugurated on December 17, 2009 , on the occasion of the association's 50th birthday. In August 2011 the exhibition on the "Hall of Fame", which had only existed virtually until then, was opened in the Manchester Velodrome.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Dave Moulton: History of British Cycle Racing: Part I, The Ban on davesbikeblog.blogspot.de
- ^ John Stevenson: British Cycling hits 100,000 members; doubles in two years. October 7, 2014, accessed October 7, 2014 .
- ↑ Team Sky - As it happens on cyclingweekly.co.uk v. December 11, 2009
- ↑ British Cycling Hall of Fame - 2010 Inductees on britishcycling.org.uk ( Memento of the original from May 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ British Cycling Hall of Fame Unveiled on britishcycling.org.uk v. 27 August 2011 (Engl.)
