Ben Swift and Ian Stannard are looking forward to the first Sky Ride event of 2010 and are hoping their presence could inspire future generations of British cycling stars.

The Team Sky duo will be present in Ealing on Sunday 18 July for the first of 12 Sky Rides which are taking place around the UK this summer.

Team-mates Lars-Petter Nordhaug and Peter Kennaugh will also be joining them in the London borough, and other Team Sky riders will be on hand at several further locations to meet, greet and hopefully aid Sky Ride in achieving their goal of getting one million more people of all ages and abilities out on their bikes by 2013.

Swift will be doing all he can to promote that cause and is confident the initiative will continue to grow after a hugely-successful launch in 2009.

He said: "When I found out about Sky Ride events last year I thought it was a great initiative so it will be great to be a part of this time around. I think the chance to ride on traffic-free roads will bring a lot of people out and hopefully it will provide the catalyst for more people to get into regular cycling.

Stannard agrees: "It's exciting to be part of and a great project. From what I saw last year everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves and I'm sure they will again this summer. Hopefully seeing professionals like us at Sky Rides across the country will motivate people to starting riding more. We're hoping to get as many people involved as we can."

Inspiration

Cycling in currently one of the fastest-growing participation sports in the UK and Swift is hopeful that Sky Rides could also help bring about a rise in the number of youngsters taking up the sport competitively.

He added: "There was nothing like Sky Rides when I was a kid, and maybe if there had been, it would have led to a bigger junior scene here in the UK. I never got the chance to meet any of my idols as a child, but if we're at events like these then hopefully we will inspire youngsters to take up competitive cycling as well.

"Cycling, with the input of Sky, is definitely becoming more prominent in the UK. As well as Sky Rides, we have elite races like the Tour of Britain and the National Championships now which are growing year on year. That's got to be encouraging because kids can now go out and watch the very best professionals in action."

And Stannard hopes initiatives such as Sky Ride could also one day lead to the situation in countries like Holland and Belgium where cycling is firmly-embedded in their national psyche:

"In cities over there you see massive bike parks with thousands and thousands of cycles locked up outside railway stations. Everyone uses them. It would be great to see that in the UK as well.

"Things are definitely improving over here. In London, for instance, they've launched a great bike hire scheme. It's good to see initiatives like that taking off as it obviously means more people can enjoy the benefits which cycling provides. Maybe one day we will see scenes similar to those ones on the continent."

For more information on this year's Sky Rides, visit the official website by CLICKING HERE.