British Cycling
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| Sport | Cycle racing |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | BC |
| Founded | 1959 |
| Affiliation | UCI |
| Regional affiliation | UEC |
| Headquarters | National Cycling Centre, Manchester |
| President | Bob Howden |
| Official website | |
| www |
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British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Britain at the world body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and selects national teams, including the Great Britain (GB) Cycling Team for races in Britain and abroad. As of 2015[update], it has a total membership of 116,644.
It is based at the National Cycling Centre on the site of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
The British Cycling Federation (BCF) was formed in 1959 at the end of an administrative dispute within the sport. The governing body since 1878 had been the National Cyclists Union (NCU). The legality of cyclists on the road had not been established and the NCU worried that all cycling could be affected by police concerns about racing. The cycling historian Bernard Thompson said: "Events organised by clubs in the 1880s, although taking place on quiet country roads, were constantly interrupted by the police. Often horse-mounted policemen charged at racers and threw sticks into their wheels." The race organiser and writer, Chas Messenger, said: "Thousands of cyclists were convicted or fined for dangerous riding, many on mere suspicion and unsupported evidence."
The NCU banned all racing on the road and insisted clubs use velodromes. A rebel organisation, eventually known as the Road Time Trials Council, began running races of individuals competing against the clock at dawn and in secrecy, to avoid police attention. The NCU eventually accepted the RTTC and the two organisations ran the sport between them, the RTTC interested only in time-trialling and the NCU administering track races and representing Britain at meetings of the UCI.
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