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Laura Trott, Jason Kenny and Sir Chris Hoy – who have 16 Olympic gold medals between them – all signed a letter urging Theresa May to spend five per cent of the transport budget, some £1.45billion, on cycle lanes.

In a letter seen by The Times, multiple Olympians call for their legacy to be recognised not by honours, but by investing in cycling.

But LBC presenter Iain Dale has lambasted the proposals from Britain’s Rio heroes.

“To think of spending £1.45billion of taxpayers’ money every year on those sort of schemes, I think it is pie in the sky,” he said.

“If you live in London and you travel along the newly-imposed cycle lanes on Victoria Embankment and Upper Thames Street, you would think that any government who wanted to put more money into cycle lanes would have taken leave of their senses. Cyclists like Laura Trott and Jason Kenny have urged an increase in spending on cycle lanes

“Just that one scheme has clogged up that part of central London.

“And it’s not just during the day. You can drive along there at 9, 10, 11 o’clock at night and it is still a complete mess.

“Cars stood there for minutes on end, causing pollution.”

He added: “I’ve got no objection to investing money in improving cycling facilities, making things safer for cyclists.”

Listeners were split over Dale’s comments.

“Already spent millions on cycle paths, but they still continue to cycle on the pavement. A complete waste of £££,” tweeted one. Campaigners want London to become more cycle-friendly

Iain Dale

But Thomas Crane asked: “We are spending £80 billion on #HS2 so why not spend that for a proper cycling strategy.”

Among the other signatories of the letter were Olympic medalists Mark Cavendish, Rebecca James and Joanna Roswell Shand.

It states: “We need 5 per cent of the government’s transport spend allocated to cycling. This is the only way that cycling will be integrated into transport strategy and given the priority it deserves.

"Investment in cycling… will pay off for the nation’s health, wealth, transport infrastructure and the vibrancy of our towns and cities.

“Our athletes have inspired the country and now we urge the government to take cycling seriously as a transport option for everyone.” 1 of 74

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said government investment had risen three-fold since 2010.

He said: “We are spending £300m on cycling funding and a further £500m for infrastructure in local communities which will include benefits for cyclists.

“The number of people choosing to get about by bike has grown over recent years and, following the success of our Rio Olympians, we want to see this trend continue.”

LBC Rio 2016 Team GB