34 Facts About Chris Boardman

Chris Boardman used the Lotus 108 time trial bicycle designed by Mike Burrows and built by the sports car manufacturer Lotus.

Chris Boardman is involved in producing commercial and competition bikes with the Boardman Bikes and Boardman Elite ventures.

Chris Boardman has worked to promote walking and cycling across the UK, becoming Greater Manchester's walking and cycling commissioner in 2017, Greater Manchester's Transport Commissioner in 2021 and most recently, Commissioner of Active Travel England.

Chris Boardman was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2024 Birthday Honours for services to active travel.

Chris Boardman was educated at Hilbre High School in Wirral, Merseyside, and rode in his first bike race at the age of 13.

Chris Boardman was on the national cycling team by the age of 16.

Chris Boardman won his first national time trial title in the 1984 "George Herbert Stancer" schoolboy 10-mile championship and subsequently won the 1986 junior 25-mile championship.

Chris Boardman broke the junior 25-mile national record in 1984.

Chris Boardman broke the record for 25 miles in 1992 and 1993 with 45 minutes 57 seconds on a course based on the A34 near Oxford.

Chris Boardman caught Germany's Jens Lehmann, the 1991 World Champion, in the Olympic final on his way to winning the gold medal.

Chris Boardman further won several stages of the Midi Libre and Criterium du Dauphine Libere stage races, including the final road stage.

In 1993 Chris Boardman established the fastest time for a bicycle around the 37.73 mile Snaefell Mountain Course, the course used for the Isle of Man TT Races.

Chris Boardman competed with Graeme Obree for the hour record using radically modified time-trial bikes, beating each other's records in turn; in one eight-month period in 1994 the record fell four times.

Chris Boardman won the prologue of the 1994 Tour de France with what was then the fastest time ever recorded.

Chris Boardman was hailed as the UK's future Tour de France winner, despite his own insistence that it was a long shot.

Chris Boardman did not defend his track individual pursuit title.

Chris Boardman made a comeback at the 1997 Tour de France, winning the prologue of the Tour once more this time on a on a Hotta TT, although a crash forced him to quit the tour on stage 13.

In 1998 Tour de France, when the Tour began in Dublin, Ireland, Chris Boardman won the prologue, but this time crashed out of the race on stage 2.

Chris Boardman retired after the Olympics, at the age of 32.

Chris Boardman's osteoporosis was uncommon for someone as young as he was.

Since retirement from professional cycling, Chris Boardman has undertaken a range of roles including television punditry, advising the British cycling teams and working in walking and cycling advocacy roles.

Chris Boardman was appointed a technical adviser to the British road and track cycling team in 2004, and was equipment and technical manager to the TeamGB cyclists at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Chris Boardman has a brand of cycles and accessories under the name Chris Boardman Bikes.

Chris Boardman is involved in producing competition cycles through Boardman Elite.

Chris Boardman has worked in various walking and cycling advocacy roles.

Chris Boardman first took up these roles after his young daughter asked to ride to the park with him, in the northern seaside town where they lived; Boardman refused, thinking it too dangerous.

Chris Boardman said it felt very wrong that he, an ex-Olympic cyclist, did not feel he could keep his child safe on a one-minute 550m ride, so he decided to do something about it.

Chris Boardman is an advocate of policies to greatly increase utility cycling in the United Kingdom, citing the potential to reduce the 35,000 annual deaths from obesity-related diseases, and urging that in road traffic accidents there be a presumption of guilt on the driver of the larger vehicle.

Chris Boardman was appointed Greater Manchester's first Cycling and Walking Commissioner by Andy Burnham in July 2017.

Chris Boardman developed a plan to create 1,800 miles of protected walking and cycling routes.

Chris Boardman was appointed as Interim Commissioner for the government's new cycling and walking body, Active Travel England, in January 2022, and permanently as Commissioner from June 2022, leaving his role at Greater Manchester.

Chris Boardman has worked as a contributor to cycling programmes on both BBC and ITV, including commentary at the Olympics Games and at the Tour de France.

In 2009 Chris Boardman took part in the London marathon, finishing in 3hrs 19min 27sec.

Chris Boardman was inducted into the British Cycling Hall of Fame.