Speaking at the Manchester Velodrome, where he was watched cyclists including four-time Olympic Gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy rising star Jess Varnish, and multi-medal winning Paralympians Jody Cundy and Sarah Storey go through their paces, Robertson maintained: "I am acutely aware of the problems British Cycling has faced with regard to the issue of road racing on the highways and my officials are working hard to resolve those with the Department of Transport and the Home Office.

"This is important as grass-roots road racing has been a key stepping stone on the route to the top for so many of today's cycling heroes."

Robertson added: "You can't help but be impressed by the set-up here in Manchester, both in terms of the facilities which are second to none, but also the sense of professionalism and winning mentality you see in the coaches and riders alike.

"It is easy to see how British Cycling has achieved the success it has enjoyed over the past few years and I remain committed to helping ensure they, and all our other Olympic and Paralympic sports, can continue to build on this through London and beyond.

"That is not just about funding at the elite level, but also doing what we can to ensure the next generation of stars get the right opportunities to begin their sporting journey."

Having been welcomed by British Cycling chief executive Ian Drake, and Director of Policy and Legal Affairs Martin Gibbs, Robertson was led to the track centre by Dave Brailsford, Performance Director, to see for himself some of Britain's leading sprint track riders and Para-cyclists being put through their paces in an afternoon training session.



This gave the Minister a unique insight into the cutting edge techniques used to ensure Britain's riders reach the major championships in the best possible shape.

British Cycling is seeking - partly through a Facebook campaign "Keep Racing on the Roads" - to have the legislation changed to make it easier for volunteer organisers throughout the country to stage a racing programme which has diminished over the years in the face of extra legal requirements.

In March, MPs and parliamentary candidates received a letter from British Cycling, signed byDrake, Brailsford andnd Sir Chris, drawing attention to the issue and asking for support.

The Facebook campaign sets out the position thus:"Despite the general boom in cycling and the success of elite British Road riders, Road Racing in the UK faces an uncertain future. Although Road Racing remains the largest discipline of the sport, it is in decline, with the number of events having singnificantly reduced in the last decade in contrast to the unprecedented growth in other cycle sport disciplines.

"The reasons for this decline are well documented: organisers, most of whom are volunteers, are increasingly unable to cope with unhelpful legislation and increasing police charges. Many race organisers are finding the barriers to promoting just too difficult to navigate and road races and participants in the sport are being lost.

"Outdated Legislation: Road racing is regulated according to the Cycle Racing on the Highway Regulations, 1960. Under these regulations, the police must be notified of an upcoming road race and the race must comply with what are termed the standard conditions, such as a limit on the number of riders. Additionally, the police have the right to impose any further conditions they deem appropriate, which creates most of the problems.

"Police Charging: Cycling increasingly suffers from high and very variable policing costs, which have increased significantly in recent years with extremely wide variations between areas and from year to year.

"Marshalling: Another major issue is marshalling. The organiser's job would be much easier and police time saved if there was a clear practice established which allowed marshals to stop and slow traffic briefly in order to let a race pass.

"The solution to these issues is relatively straightforward: the next government simply needs to amend and update the secondary legislation governing this area of law - the Cycle Racing on the Highways Regulations 1960. It was amended temporarily to allow the Tour de France to come through the UK, demonstrating not only how prohibitive the legislation is, but how easy it would be to amend it.

"The amended legislation would start from the presumption that road races are a legitimate activity and should be authorised by the police, subject to the fulfilment of an updated set of requirements. This will limit the current regional variability of police requirements and allow our volunteers to organise races more effectively. We believe that the best means of introducing these conditions would be through a Code of Conduct which would include formal recognition of the role played by trained and accredited marshals to control traffic at bike races.

"In order to allow those organisers who need police presence at their races to budget we also need a consistently applied policy for police charging at road races which recognises that the overwhelming majority are run on a non commercial basis by volunteers.

Drake said: "The decline of road races in this country absolutely must be reversed.

We're working really hard on this issue and we believe that with the right support from Government and the Olympics on the horizon we have a rare opportunity to make some fundamental changes.

"I'm asking all our members to get behind us as we campaign to secure the future of UK road racing."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]

Pictures courtesy of British Cycling