Six Olympic champions and thousands of ordinary commuters have backed the Times campaign to improve the safety of cycling in towns and cities.

Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Boardman, Rebecca Romero and Nicole Cooke, all of whom are Olympic gold medallists, joined Mark Cavendish, the world champion, in supporting the petition calling for a new covenant for cycling. Politicians, television personalities, leading businesses and ten city councils also pledged to support proposals to transform urban areas for bikes.

The issue was raised in Parliament as Labour called for an emergency conference to consider yesterday’s eight-point manifesto for change. More than 5,000 people pledged their support on the campaign home page, 300 wrote to their MPs, 5,000 showed their support on Twitter,