Team GB success at Rio 2016 boosts Halfords' cycling sales

The success of Team GB's cyclists at the Olympic Games this summer has been credited for boosting Halfords' cycling sales for the start of the financial year.

Great Britain topped the cycling medal table, winning six gold medals on the track, including three between Laura Trott and Sir Bradley Wiggins, who launched rages of bikes with Halfords in recent months.

Group sales were up almost five per cent with like-for-like cycling sales up 1.9 per cent in the 20 weeks to August 19 and total sales up 11 per cent.

"We continue to make good progress on our strategic initiatives; we can now match 25% of our retail sales to specific customers compared to only 3% last year and in recent weeks we have successfully piloted contactless payments and also launched the new Cycle Republic website," said chief executive Jill McDonald.

Halfords says the boost in sales has "more than offset the slower sales earlier in the year". Wiggins and Trott launched ranges of children's bikes in 2016 as the retailer looked to cash in on the popularity of two of the nations most popular cyclists.

The retailer also felt a boost after the purchases of online cycling retailers Wheelies and Tredz earlier in 2016 in a deal worth £18m.