KING TO MEET SPORT ENGLAND IN BID TO REINSTATE FUNDING FOR RECREATIONAL CYCLING

British Cycling has finally secured a meeting with top Sport England officials in a bid to get the government to overturn their recent decision to halt funding for recreational cycling projects, Peter King, BC?s chief executive, told Cycling Weekly yesterday.

Cycling was the only sport to be ?segmented? in this way when the Secretary of State announced Sport England?s new project to create a ?world class school sport and elite system.?

If the government were to go ahead, only competition-based cycling will receive Sport England funding and British Cycling?s ?Everyday Cycling? grass roots project, the breeding ground for many champions, would not.

King will have talks with top Sport England civil servant Paul Heron after Christmas.

?We will demonstrate how cycling from grass roots to podium level is one cycling activity,? said King, adding, ?Hopefully this meeting will lead to a meeting with the Secretary of State James Purnell.?

He hoped Sport England funding would continue to allow the full development of cycling sport.

The breakthrough comes after King?s repeated requests for a meeting with James Purnell MP, the Secretary of State for Sport, Culture and Media, had gone unanswered.

Last week King?s deputy, Ian Drake, made contact with Sport England insiders to explain how the cycling pathways are all linked, feeding elite level.