News and Insights
A Virtuous Cycle – Does Investment in Bike Lanes Result in Gold Medals?
May 13, 2026
Government investment in sport is relatively straightforward: more funding tends to result in greater success, and vice versa. But what if the particular sport is also a way that people get to work or pop to the shops?
The relationship between the sport of cycling and the general public is almost unique in that it is something that we can all do in our day-to-day lives. Many of us may not be able to kick a ball or swing a bat with any accuracy, but cycling – even if it’s not at 50kmph on carbon bikes – is all around us almost every day, and performed by everyone from small school children to pensioners.
At FINN Dublin we have seen this first hand through our relationship with our client RedClick, the insurance company, who are sponsors of dublinbikes, the capital’s shared bike scheme. Parallel to this, and through its Shared Streets campaign, RedClick has charted the experiences of cyclists on the roads of Ireland through regular public surveys, which we at FINN have helped formulate and publicise. The result has been a clear trend upwards in uptake and perception of active travel, which led me to wonder: is it feasible to make a connection between the general public’s perception and/or participation in cycling, and a nation’s success in the sport?
While acknowledging the dangers of mixing correlation and causation, there is nevertheless an interesting comparison to be made. Taking FINN Dublin’s home country of Ireland and comparing to the UK – its geographical and cultural neighbour – how has each country been approaching active travel in recent years, and is there a correlation to the performance of their professional cyclists on the global arena?
Wheel Brittania
In July 2016, I was one of 27,000 people to cycle up the famous Mall leading to Buckingham Palace in London, part of RideLondon, an enormous – and enormously successful – mass cycling event covering 100 miles (160kms) of closed roads through London city, out into the Surrey countryside, and back again. A few hours later a professional bike race would end in the same spot, with cycling legend Tom Boonen taking the honours that day.
RideLondon was first held in 2013 as a legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games, in which the Team GB cycling team swept the board. Also in 2012, one of those medallists, Bradley Wiggins, became the first British person to win the fabled Tour de France, the culmination of efforts marked in 2010 with the launch of Team Sky, the British-registered professional cycling team that revolutionised the sport. That year also saw the launch of what was colloquially called “Boris Bikes”, London’s first shared bike scheme, which drastically increased the number of people using bikes for transport.
All of this is to say that at the start of the 2010s, British cycling – and cycling in Britian – was having a moment. By 2018, two other Britons – Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas – achieved a total tally of six Tours de France, and in 2020 active travel in the UK, including Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs), received a significant funding boost to encourage people out of vehicles and onto wheels and feet.
Fast forward to 2026, and the picture is quite different. RideLondon is no more, a victim (allegedly) of funding issues; likewise the professional race has been scrapped. Cycle lanes in some council areas are being ripped out and returned to vehicular use, and LTNs have been the cause of significant controversy, including legal challenges, despite evidence of their success. Redtops and other tabloids have gleefully been attacking active travel efforts, depressingly sucking them into the so-called culture wars and labelling cycling as ‘woke’ (whatever that actually means these days).
In March 2023, the UK government slashed the budget for active travel capital projects by 75%, from £200m per year to approximately £50m. Apathy has also resulted in England now finding itself without a cycling and walking strategy for the first time since April 2017. While some of these cuts have been halted with the latest Labour government, it is clear that progress on active travel in the UK has been not only slowed, but effectively thrown into reverse.
The Irish Comparison
At only 8% of the size of the UK, the Irish Republic will usually suffer from any direct comparison to its large neighbour. But in March this year, the National Transport Authority in Ireland released a report showing that, in 2025, walking, wheeling and cycling take up to a record 660,000 cars off the road each day in Ireland’s five cities. Tellingly, more than half of residents say they want to walk more, and one in three want to cycle and use public transport more. Respondents also said they support investing in sustainable travel over investing in driving, including majority support for cycle tracks physically separated from traffic and pedestrians, even where that means less space for motor traffic.
For its part, the Irish government is quick to highlight its investment of over €1 billion in active travel since 2021. Similarly, Ireland’s first indoor velodrome is under construction, and this weekend Dublin will host a day of bike racing in the city centre for the first time since 2010.
Coincidentally, Irish professional cycling is going through something of a boom. In 2020, Sam Bennett won the Green Jersey of the Tour de France, the first Irishman to do so since Sean Kelly in 1989. And last year Ben Healy briefly wore the famous yellow jersey in the race, the first since Stephen Roche in 1987. Also in 2025, Lara Gillespie secured the Gold medal in the Elimination race at the UCI Track World Championship, marking an historic year in women’s cycling which also included the first Irish participation at the Tour de France Femmes.
The big teams are increasingly seeing more Irish riders join their ranks, with top-tier races seeing names like Eddie Dunbar, Ryan Mulllen, Mia Griffin, and Rory Townsend on their lists. Young riders are also making a strong impression, with Adam Rafferty, Dillon Corkery, and Liam O’Brien moving from development teams to senior placements.
While admittedly investment figures are coming from a small base and in some cases following significant delay, the trend is noticeably upwards. Similarly for our pro cyclists: compared to other nations we are still minnows, but given our size and the domination of other sports such as Gaelic Games, it is arguable that we are punching above our weight.
When it comes to cycling, the divergent approaches in Ireland and the UK are quite clear, both quantitively and qualitatively. To put a figure on priorities, London spent the equivalent of £24 per head per year between 2016 and 2021, while the rest of England spent the equivalent of only £10 per head. Ireland’s €1bn commitment since 2021, for comparison, works out at €196 per person. And while public discourse in the UK is often heated and terse, with much antagonism against two-wheeled transport, the attitude in Ireland is generally supportive. This is not to say it is without its challenges, but debate around cycling has generally avoided being sucked into the culture wars of the UK, where headlines routinely refer to active travel as ‘a war on motorists’ and ‘a waste of money’.
Of course, Ben Healy did not achieve his success by zipping around Dublin on a rental bike. Nor did Lara Gillespie learn her indoor track skills on one of Ireland’s two rough-and-ready outdoor tracks. Similarly, Britain is hardly without its successful cyclists today.
But as a theory it has some merit. Does public acceptance of a sport drive its success? When the mood turns against support of cycling, as it has in the UK, with concurrent changes in policy and funding, does that impact the professional sport? Or like in Ireland, when cycling isn’t as ‘othered’ as it appears to be across the water, does that make it easier for people to get into the pastime?
The beauty of cycling is that it can literally cater to all types: young, old, disabled, and other, via professionals in multiple modes and disciplines. Ireland has recognised the rising tide lifts all boats; let’s hope Britain returns to its post-Olympic glory years.
POSTED BY: Richard Magnier
