From Norman Tebbit’s infamous advice to the unemployed to get on their bikes to the Plebgate row, cycling has a long history of being embroiled in British political controversy and intrigue.

So it is not surprising that Jeremy Corbyn, perhaps Labour most divisive leader in recent history, has been accused of riding a Chairman Mao bicycle – a rumour he brushed off when discussing his love of cycling in an interview with the Tour de France winner and Olympic Gold medallist Sir Bradley Wiggins, who was guest-editing BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

The Islington North MP, who took his aluminium-framed Raleigh bike along to his meeting with Wiggins, quipped: “The Chairman Mao bicycle is, you know those pigeon bikes that are very heavy with not many gears, weigh a ton and once you get them going they’ve got their own kinetic energy, but this one is actually a very light one so I think whoever wrote it was a Chairman Mao bicycle should be sent away for re-education.” 

The opposition leader also drew a comparison between cycling and his political philosophy. “The parallel with sport is an interesting one because it’s half a parallel; because in sport, yes you’re in it, in the English tradition, to take part, but in reality you’re in it to win,” he said.