Political parties should have "ambitious" cycling plans in their manifestos, says Chris Hoy

Britain's most successful Olympian, Chris Hoy has called on political parties to come up with "realistic and ambitious" plans to provide better facilities for cycling, reports The Times.

Hoy told the paper's Kaya Burgess that provision for cycling should be “at the front of the queue” when designing new roads and junctions, and that he dreams of being able to ride to school with his son when he's old enough.

And he pointed out that building cycling facilities doesn't just benefit people who ride bikes. Reducing congestion "will benefit everybody" he said.

Hoy said cycling plans and budgets should be included in party manifestos

He said: "It’s easy to say ‘we’ll do it’, but how are they going to do it? We need a clear picture of how the different parties see cycling as part of their transport policies.

“I would certainly welcome that - if a party did come up with something that was both realistic and ambitious, they would get the support of the cycling community.”

Cycling infrastructure benefits everyone, Hoy said, and should be welcomed even by those who don't expect to use it.

He said: "It would be short-sighted for people to bemoan any investment in cycling, even if they never intend to cycle themselves. It’s logical that if there are more people cycling, there are fewer people in their cars and more space for them to drive.

"Hopefully politicians will realise that and will sell their support for cycling in that way - that they’re spending this amount of money on cycling, but it’s not just for people who ride bikes: it will benefit everybody.”

Hoy's son Callum is five months old. Not quite old enough to be following in his famous father's wheel tracks yet, but when he is, Hoy plans to teach him to ride away from traffic where there won't be “buses coming straight past you”.

Hoy wants to be able to ride to school with his son.

“That would be the dream scenario. We harp on about Holland and Denmark and Germany, but that’s what they do over there. Not everyone rides around on £10,000 carbon road bikes in luminous Lyrca - they just ride their bikes as part of their lives.”