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Sir Bradley Wiggins today called on London’s cyclists to obey the rules of the road and avoid jeopordising the capital’s two-wheeled revolution.

The Olympic and Tour de France champion warned cyclists who ride through red lights, jumped pavements, listened to iPods and rode dangerously were bringing cycling into disrepute - and risked forcing authorities to clamp down.

Following tough new cycling penalties in Australia - where riders face stringent fines for running red lights, failing to stop at pedestrian crossings, cycling without lights or holding onto vehicles - he said bad riders here also risked squandering valuable “freedoms”.

The frequent Boris Bike user warned: “Enforcement is inevitable if it starts to get out of control.”

Sir Bradley told the Standard: “I’m starting to sell bikes to kids now so I have a responsibility and duty to help educate people.

“We are seeing a boom in cycling but it’s how we all coexist that is important. Cyclists have to help themselves by behaving.

"With traffic volumes and emissions going up, people are starting to use cycling as a means of transport more but we won’t see the full cycling legacy of the Olympics for 10 years and we have to ask; what will London look like in the future?

“This might be the beginnings of an Amsterdam or Copenhagen but everyone abiding by the rules and co-existing is key. New cycle lanes are great but you always get cyclists who give a bad name to the rest; people who jump the kerbs, jump red lights and ride around with iPods so you can’t hear the rest of the traffic. You would not do that in a car so why would you on a bike?

“You do not have a right to complain how you’re being treated on the road unless you apply the rules yourself.”

Sir Bradley added: “Traffic lights are there for a reason. Jumping traffic lights ... you get run over by traffic coming the other way. The next morning that’s another cyclist that’s died. They are termed under the phrase ‘cyclist’ but they’re not cyclists as such, they are not membership holders of British Cycling.

“The roads are free to cyclists and that right should never be taken away, one of the reasons for the boom in participation is that it’s so accessible and free.

"If cycling continues growing and people continue [with the bad behaviour] there will have to be rules put in place to control people. Cycling is a free activity that is accessible and with very little effort - in terms of adhering to the rules - the rewards are great.”

He was backed by Olympic medallist Chris Boardman, whose gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games helped trigger Britain’s cycling revolution.

Joining Sir Bradley at the Halfords Spring Press Show in London, he called for more enforcement against all law-breaking road-users.

“Nobody should run a red light in any vehicle, it’s the rule of the road,” said Mr Boardman who called for “less aggression” from cyclists and car drivers.

He said he was “anxious” that despite the great strides London had made in cycling, the next mayor might not have the “courage” to see the revolution through.