Gold winner Wiggins calls for cycling safety

London 2012 gold medallist Bradley Wiggins has urged the Government to do more to raise awareness for safer cycling in the UK after the death of a cyclist hit by an Olympic coach close to the Velodrome.

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The incident happened last night (1 August) just hours after Wiggins became Britain’s most decorated Olympian by taking Gold at the cycling time trial event.

When asked about the accident, Wiggins said that the Government should be “legalising helmets to make them the law to wear”, adding that “it’s dangerous and London is a busy city and a lot of traffic.”

He added: “Things can’t continue the way they are, everybody knows that. There are a lot of things that need to be addressed with cycling at the moment on the roads.”

“Cyclists are not ever going to go away, as much as drivers moan, and as much as cyclists maybe moan about certain drivers they are never going to go away so there’s got be a bit of give and take. But I think things are improving to a degree: there are organisations out there who are attempting to make roads safer for both parties,” he says.

Wiggins recent victory in the Tour de France has sparked a surge in people taking up road cycling for the first time. It is likely to reignite the fierce debate over cycling safety in the UK. Last year saw a 60 per cent rise in the number of cyclists killed in London, according to Transport for London. A further 555 people were seriously injured, up 21% on the previous year.

Elsewhere, sponsor brands have lauded the efforts of other Team GB medal winners with tactical print and digital campaigns. Olympic sponsor Samsung is running an advert congratulating Alex Partridge and the rest of the rowing mens eight team for their Bronze medal win yesterday, while the Royal Mail has launched a campaign to promote its limited edition Gold medal stamp collection which features rowing duo Helen Glover and Heather Stanning, who won Team GB’s first Gold medal, and Wiggins.

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