alt BRITISH CYCLING is hoping to cash in on its new status as the country's most successful sport by signing up a big-name sponsor to help it prepare for the 2012 Olympics.

 

London-based Sponsorship Media won the account to find a sponsor after a four-way pitch.

 

British Cycling is now hot property thanks to last week's record-breaking medal haul at the World Track Championships.

 

British Cycling's website is also breaking records and is soon to allow commercial advertising.

 

Previous high-profile sponsors of British Cycling have included Tescos and Persil.

The federation is hoping to raise £1m in sponsorship across all its properties, including Team GB; Go-Ride, the youth coaching programme; and Everyday Cycling, an initiative to get more people cycling.

British Cycling is offering team-naming rights and access to athletes as part of the sponsorship packages.

 

The Team GB cycling team is Britain's best prospect for gold medals at the Beijing and London Olympics.

Chief executive Peter King said: "We are looking for partners who want to make contribution to British medal success in Beijing in 2008, London 2012 and beyond, while making a significant contribution to the active-nation debate - getting more young people, families and adults of all ages and abilities to ride their bikes."

The British Cycling website had its highest ever visitor numbers during the World Track Championships in Palma: 17,800 unique visitors last Monday.

British Cycling's communications manager Phil Ingham said "We're going to launch advertising on the site in the near future and look forward to developing the site still further."