By Daniel Hunter
Halfords is still riding the strong wave of cycling enthusiasts in the UK, reporting sales of more than £1 billion for the first time.
The bike and car accessory retailer sold 1.3 million bikes in 2014 as revenues jumped from £940m to just over £1bn.
In the year that the Tour de France came to Yorkshire for the first time, Cambridge and London, Halfords said that sales of premium bikes, which can cost thousands of pounds, were up by 25%.
The retailer also attributed a 13% rise in children's bikes and 40% rise in teenage bikes to its "Does anything beat a bike?" campaign over Christmas.
Halfords also reported strong figures in its car divisions. Revenues at its car service and repair centre was up 7.6% and sales of car cleaning products rose 13%.
New chief executive, Jill McDonald, who started just three weeks ago said she is still finding her feet and explained it would be wrong to comment of the future of the company.
