When it comes to love, women prefer cyclists.....so long as they’re not wearing lycra

It has finally been said. What we’ve always known to be true. Women prefer men who enjoy cycling as a hobby to football or rugby fanatics. For all the projects to try and get more people cycling for a greener UK, for the men at least, campaigners should just be using this line. Men would be on their bikes in droves.

In a survey commissioned by this week’s Cycle Show women were asked to rate the fans of typical male sporting pursuits in terms of attractiveness. Cycling came out as the top choice of hobby for prospective partners with 36 per cent of respondents voting in its favour; beating the number one male hobbies of football, 17 per cent and rugby,14 per cent, as well as tennis, golf and fishing.

And not only are women more happy for prospective partners to spend time cycling when not spending time with them, but they are equally as positive about the idea of cycling as a romantic experience – with 44 per cent of those questioned choosing a bike ride as their top first date activity. Only 17 per cent chose a trip to the football as their ideal first date.

Lovers of the beautiful game also compared unfavourably to cyclists when the women were questioned about their views of the typical characteristics of men who enjoy various sporting hobbies. Whilst cyclists were most frequently described as ‘kind’, ‘considerate’ and ‘intelligent’; the majority of women questioned felt that football fans were typically ‘aggressive’, ‘selfish’ and ‘proud.’

However, it was not all good news for cyclists, as they fell behind in the sartorial stakes with the women questioned preferring almost all other outfits associated with a hobby to the traditional lycra outfits of cyclists, which received a popularity rating of a pitiful seven per cent.

Andrew Brabazon, Cycle Show Event Director of the Cycle Show, which runs from Thursday to Sunday, said: “It’s no surprise that women perceive cycling as a desirable hobby for men. Having encountered many cyclists over my years as Cycle Show Director – of both sexes – I’ve always found them to be among the most considerate people I know. As a keen cyclist myself, I can only agree with the survey's findings!”

So there you have it, get on your bike and the ladies will flock.

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