Cycling Victoria says increased numbers of bunch, or group, cyclists have sparked more accidents on the roads and is calling on new riders to undertake safety and etiquette training.

Its new Leading Rider program is aimed at improving safety and promoting leadership on the road and to equip "participants with communication and leadership skills, and above-all safety".

The campaign is being launched in the popular cycling area of Beach Road in Melbourne, where half of the 4,500 cyclists who ride it on a weekend travel in bunches.

Cycling Victoria said new riders often lacked the knowledge because they had not learnt bunch etiquette.

Cycling Victoria Ambassador and Olympian Scott McGrory said the majority of accidents were caused by other cyclists in groups.

"It's dangerous - the crashes that are happening and the crashes we've been seeing, the increased number, have been because of the less skilful cyclists that are new to the sport," McGrory said.

"We clip the wheel in front of us looking over our shoulder, or checking out the fantastic view, or which coffee shop we are going to stop at and then we clip the wheel in front of you, the right wheel in front of you and fall down."

He said bunch etiquette was also about being courteous to drivers and other road-users.

"We've had this boom in recreational cycling, and then the need has come with the fact that there's the extra riders out there that haven't actually come through the traditional method of cycling clubs to learn bunch etiquette, safety and all the dos and don'ts you should be doing on the road to keep yourself safe and the riders you're with safe," he said.

'MAMILs' need more road safety education

McGrory said he had personally noticed the lack of skills among late-blooming riders.

"I ride in lots of different groups, from elite level down to friends of mine, school parents...and there are so many cyclists now that have taken up the sport in their mid-30s, mid-40s, mid-50s."

"They love cycling, they're strong they get fit, they really enjoy it and the social nature of it is fantastic, but you can see that they just didn't quite get the skills that we were able to get when we started riding at 10 or 12."

"It's little things, like rider safety - where to sit behind the riders in front of you, how to look out for each other.

"The best cyclists in the world - Cadel Evans - he still has his crashes, but the percentage of crashes for the educated cyclist that came through the club programs that Cycling Victoria have are far less than the new generation, the so-called MAMILs - the middle-aged men in lycra."

Cycling Victoria said the program had the support of Victoria Police, the Transport Accident Committee and the Victorian Government.