Chris Boardman says his mother's death while cycling was a 'horrible irony'

Olympic gold medallist and cycling advocate Chris Boardman has described the death of his mother, Carol, while cycling as a 'horrible irony' given his close involvement with encouraging more people to cycle in Britain.

Carol Boardman died after a collision with a pick-up truck while she was cycling in North Wales in July.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain on ITV on Wednesday, Boardman talked about his mother's enthusiasm for cycling throughout her life.

"She cycled since her early teens all the way through to her seventies. She rode a bike more than I did, actually," said Boardman.

"She used it for transport to get around the local village and was out exploring in North Wales when she was hit by a car."

>>> Tributes paid after Chris Boardman’s mother killed in cycling collision

Boardman explained that cycling fatalities are still very rare given the number of miles travelled by British cyclists.

"There are roundabout 115 people killed a year [cycling], that equates to a thousand times around the planet per cycling fatality in this country, so it's incredibly rare. It's a horrible, horrible irony that it's one of the things that I feel passionately about. It's just a great form of transport."

Boardman is continuing his work campaigning to 'normalise' cycling in British society, but work still needs to be done to improve cycling infrastructure.

"Those new people who don't ride a bike now will only ride to the shops (or) ride to work if you give them safe space to do it," said Boardman.

The results of a poll published by Ribble Cycles on Tuesday, prior to National Cycle To Work Day on Wednesday, showed that only nine per cent of British workers commute to work by bike, and that more than one in four people are worried about having an accident on their bike.