Wiggins, the triple Olympic champion, had been furious after television cook James Martin had claimed in a newspaper article that he enjoyed scaring cyclists by honking his horn at them as he approached them in his sports car.

He wrote in the Mail on Sunday: "The look of sheer terror as they tottered into the hedge was the best thing I've ever seen in my rear-view mirror."

Wiggins, who finished fourth in the Tour de France this year, denounced the comments to his 33,000 Twitter followers, including writing: "Stick to Ready Steady ---- mate".

Martin later apologised for causing offence.

The dangers cyclists face from motorists have now been experienced first-hand by the gold medallist's wife.

Wiggins wrote today on the Twitter: "Cath Wiggins got knocked off her bike today by some silly old sod going to the garden centre."

The mother-of-two had stopped at a junction when she was struck by the car.

She said she was "very, very lucky" to avoid serious injury.

The accident comes as Cycling England, which is funded by the Department for Transport, suggests a change in the law to make motorists automatically at fault in collisions with riders or pedestrians.

Last year, 115 cyclists were killed on Britain's roads.