The Oswestry branch of Extinction Rebellion protested Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman as he set off to the Paris Olympics.

Extinction Rebellion activists from Oswestry visited the National Cycling Centre in Manchester to call on gold medallist and active travel guru Chris Boardman to help them convince British Cycling to drop its sponsor Shell.

The protest took place as Boardman, who was British Cycling’s policy advisor for over a decade, set off on an eight-day bike ride from Manchester to Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Boardman aims to travel across England highlighting the work of inspirational organisations who are working hard to become environmentally sustainable.

Chris Boardman on his ride to ParisChris Boardman on his ride to Paris (Image: Fabio De Paola/PA)

However, protesters from Oswestry held signs and placards calling on Boardman to join them in publicly denouncing Shell’s sponsorship of British Cycling.

The sign carried messages like ‘Shell Lie, Cyclists Die’ and ‘[Heart] Chris, Hate Shell’. 

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“We’re big fans of Chris Boardman and we love that he’s cycling to the Paris Olympics to highlight the accelerating threat from the climate crisis,” said Protester Sahrah Wilding.

“But it’s ironic that Chris is starting his journey at the headquarters of British Cycling, an organisation that is taking millions in dirty sponsorship money from climate-wrecking oil giant Shell.

“Cycling is a brilliant mode of travel and one of the best ways to reduce our carbon footprint. Yet the main governing body for the sport is ruining its reputation by taking cash from climate criminals.

“As one senior cycling official said, the sponsorship between British Cycling and Shell is like ‘shaking hands with the devil’.”

An eight-year sponsorship deal with Shell was announced in October 2022.

However, campaigners claim the oil and gas multinational is trying to ‘greenwash’ its image by investing in the sport, deflecting attention from its decision to revise its climate targets.

They point to Shell recently abandoning its 2035 emissions target and weakened its 2030 goal, putting the 1.5C climate target which the world committed to at the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement at risk and claim that Shell now spends more on advertising than it does renewable energy.

Mike Bastow from Extinction Rebellion Oswestry & Borders said: ‘It feels like British Cycling is closing ranks. No one wanted to discuss this issue with us today. I compare it to the doping scandal, where everyone knew what was happening but didn’t want to talk about it.

“We’ve tried everything to get British Cycling to listen, even taking a leading climate scientist to meet the CEO and letting him hear from an expert how close the world is to catastrophic tipping points. But British Cycling is determined to ignore the science.’

“We’d love to see Chris Boardman join our call for Shell to get the hell out of British Cycling while he pedals from Manchester to Paris. C’mon Chris, tell Shell to get on their bike.”