The Olympic champion Chris Boardman said that if asked to become the Government’s cycling chief he would “bite their arm off” — but only if he were given real power to reform Britain’s streets.

Boardman, who won individual pursuit gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, said that cycling was approaching a “watershed moment” and that the Government needed to set definite targets and show leadership in getting more people to travel by bike.

When asked if he would encourage the appointment of a “cycling czar” and consider such a role himself, he said: “Absolutely, if that person was given a mandate and given teeth to make changes and given a defined policy to implement. I’d bite their arm off, so long as they could tell