May 30, 2013 (Aigle, Switzerland) – Cycling’s status as a high category sport for the 2016 Olympic Games has been confirmed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Cycling is one of five Category B Olympic sports along with basketball, football, tennis and volleyball, which guarantees it more prestige and a larger share of Olympic revenue than most other sports – that figure amounted to $22m from London 2012. Only athletics, gymnastics and swimming have Category A status.

Six criteria are used to judge a sport’s Olympic status, ranging from TV audiences (40%) and internet page views (20%), via general popularity (15%), spectator ticket requests (10%) and press coverage (10%) to the number of national federations involved (5%).

“This is a real boost to our sport worldwide,” said UCI President Pat McQuaid, who is also an IOC member. “Cycling is one of the few sports to have been present at every edition of the summer Olympic Games, and this is further proof that it is now more popular than ever.”