Manchester Metropolitan University and British Cycling have announced a new strategic partnership aimed at combining research expertise with elite sport performance.
The collaboration will support Great Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic cyclists while also working to strengthen cycling participation and inclusion across the UK.
By utilising multidisciplinary research from the Manchester Met Institute of Sport alongside British Cycling’s performance pathway programmes, the partnership intends to ‘deliver innovation with national impact’. This includes enhancing athlete performance and wellbeing, while addressing challenges such as equality and community engagement in cycling.
The initiative spans several areas, such as performance science, engineering, data and AI, women’s sport, and student development. Drawing on methods used in professional football, the partnership will look to unlock performance insights such as optimising sprint cycling footwear and analysing muscle structure to understand training load effectiveness.
Manchester Met’s Centre of Excellence for Women in Sport will work with the national governing body to support the specific needs of female riders. This includes research into women’s health and performance, as well as female-specific equipment innovation such as bike and saddle design to improve comfort and health outcomes.
Professor Tim Cable, Director of Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, said “Our partnership with British Cycling will explore cutting-edge performance science and data innovation, building on Manchester Met’s expertise in biomechanics and applied sport science.
“Based in the sporting city of Manchester, our research and expertise will help British Cycling to achieve its goals, pushing the limits of elite performance while realising opportunities to widen participation in cycling and create opportunities and pathways for our students.”
Jon Dutton, Group Chief Executive at British Cycling, said “Our innovation-led partnership with Manchester Met University opens many opportunities for both organisations around elite performance support, while having inclusion, participation and impact right at its core.
“Collaborations like this benefit both organisations as the partnership will operate in world-class environments, increasing skills across the board, bringing significant results, and important development across several areas.”
The partnership will also create opportunities for students by aligning education with elite sport environments. This includes linking major cycling events in the city, such as the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, with the university’s hosting of the European College of Sport Science Congress in 2027.
British Cycling is the national governing body for cycling in Great Britain, representing 2,000 affiliated clubs and an estimated 27 million people who ride bikes nationwide. Manchester Met’s Institute of Sport is an interdisciplinary centre focused on using sport to improve health and societal outcomes.
www.mmu.ac.uk
www.britishcycling.org.uk
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