Manchester is ‘40 years behind’ other European cities when it comes to cycling – but if we choose bikes over cars we can turn that around.

That’s the message from Martiyn van Es of the Cyclists Union of Holland which has 34,000 members.

Formed in 1975, it's helped turn major cities in the Netherlands into a cyclist’s paradise.

Manchester is making headway, with cycle paths like the those on Oxford Road – and this month Chinese firm Mobike will launch its app-based bike-sharing service in Manchester and Salford.

But we need to do more to shift our attitudes to two-wheeled travel, according to Martiyn, who spoke to the M.E.N. in Nijmegen, Holland at Velo-City 2017, the world’s biggest cycling conference.

He said: “Just choose the bicycle over the car. It’s not only a psychological choice, it’s about infrastructure and space – give the cyclists the space they need.

“We have former industrial cities like Manchester in the Netherlands. They are choosing now to make more space for cyclists and less space for cars. It’s not just a question of money – it’s a new way of thinking you need to explore and make your own.

“If you change your way of thinking towards pedestrians and cycling, the city centre will eventually will be more friendly and people will cycle and walk more. Choose to do that.

“People often don’t think it’s a choice – they say they need their car because it’s too dangerous to cycle. But if you also change infrastructure to make it easy then people will choose it.

“But it really is a mindset you have to get into.

“It’s really important to change the perception of people about cycling. That it’s safe and the easy thing to do.”

Martiyn accepted improving infrastructure is expensive, but said it would be worth it to ease congestion, reduce pollution and improve health.

He said cities like Amsterdam and Nijmegen were in a similar position to Manchester 40 years ago. But there is hope – Rotterdam, for example, was in a similar situation to Manchester 15 years ago and now around 30pc of its population commute by bike. That compares to Manchester’s 3pc.

On bike-sharing, he added: “It could help. If people see the bicycles, they think ‘oh, it’s normal for me to cycle’. If you add to that good infrastructure, that’s what works.”

He said bike-sharing had worked in Paris to help people accept cycling as ‘normal’.

But he said the biggest shift in Manchester would have to be social.

He added: “If people think about mobility they always think about cars or public transport, but a lot of the kilometres here in the Netherlands for short rides are made on foot or bicycle, and if you can get that to the ears of the policy makers it would be a lot better.

“Change is possible. When we formed 40 years ago we were where Manchester is now - but you don’t need 40 years to get there. With some well-chosen things like the bike-share and with good designs of cycle paths in the busiest areas you’re making a flying start. There is also now so much knowledge in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany. It took us 40 years because we were the first ones, maybe it will take you 10 or 20.”

“I would invite Mayor Andy Burnham to the Netherlands, ask him to learn from us and reshape Manchester into a cycling paradise.”

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “We do need to invest in cycling across Greater Manchester to help improve our health, our air quality and reduce congestion - it makes sense on every level. We need to learn from London, which has shown that you get a shift in behaviour if you give people separate, safer cycling facilities.

“I’m committed to working with our local councils and TfGM to improve and promote cycling across our city-region, making travel easier and more sustainable.”

Transport bosses in the region say they have secured over £42m from the Department for Transport’s Cycle City Ambition Grant and more than £15m from the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport fund.

The £20m first phase of TfGM’s Cycle City programme has been invested in more than 65km of new and improved cycle routes and improved cycle parking and facilities at transport interchanges.

A further £22m will be invested by 2018.