Olympic and World champion Victoria Pendleton rode into Dublin to help launch this weekend’s second annual Irish Cycling Show in Citywest, 9th and 10th March.www.irishcyclingshow.com
Track star Pendleton, who retired after last Summer’s London Olympics, remains one of the most visible faces in world cycling and her first visit to Dublin coincides with a boom in leisure and commuter cycling in Ireland.
With Dublin ranked 9th out of 80 in the list of Most Bicycle Friendly Cities in the World, it’s no wonder that the sport is growing in popularity.
Already Ireland’s fastest growing sport, cycling generates an estimated €130m for the economy. Membership of Cycling Ireland has almost tripled in the past five years and the success of champions like Victoria Pendleton is inspiring a new generation of cyclists to take to the road, trail and track.
With one in five people in Ireland now interested in cycling, the sport is booming and the second annual Irish Cycling Show is set to be even bigger than last year.
The Irish Cycling Show will feature an array of cycle exhibitors, seminars, presentations, celebrity interviews, a bike test track, children’s skills training and more.
As well as supporting the Irish Cycling Show, Victoria also supported the launch of this year’s One4all charity cycle Cycle4Haiti (www.cycle4haiti.com.). Cycle4Haiti has been selected as the official charity partner of the Irish Cycling Show and the fourth annual Cycle4Haiti cycle in aid of the Soul of Haiti Foundation will take place over the May bank holiday weekend.
Cycling enthusiasts and novices alike can sign up to take part in the cycle at the Irish Cycling Show or register at www.cycle4haiti.com.
Victoria Pendleton CBE is one of the UK’s most successful sportswomen of all time. The track cyclist spent almost 10 years at the top of her sport winning Olympic Gold medals in the Sprint in Beijing 2008 and in the Keirin in London 2012 as well as silver medal in the Sprint in London 2012. She is 9-times World Champion, having taken six titles in the Sprint. She also has an Commonwealth title to her name, was awarded an MBE in 2009 and a CBE in 2013.
For further information check out: www.irishcyclingshow.com or www.cycle4haiti.com.
Cycling Statistics
- Cycling is Irelands fastest growing sport and worth over €130m
- Number of Males vs Females cycling to work: 27,948 vs 8,358. That equates roughly to a ratio of 3:1
- 19% of Irish people are interested in cycling – 22% Male and 17% Female
- There has been an estimated 50% increase of cycling tours and events currently registered throughout the country since 2009, resulting in significant benefits to local tourism