Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson forced out on foot in Team GB kit as bodyguards claim ‘cycling makes him a target’
CYCLING champion Boris Johnson has been banned from riding his bike on public roads again by his police bodyguards.
The Foreign Secretary has been told travelling anywhere in the capital on two wheels is too much of a security risk.
It is a bitter blow to the former London Mayor, who introduced Boris Bikes to the city and dug up many of its main arterial routes to install cycle lanes.
Boris challenged the order, issued when he took up the top Cabinet post in July.
But a full Metropolitan Police protection branch review has now upheld it over fears that he is now a high priority for a terrorist assassination.
In a bid to keep fit, the 52-year-old has instead taking to jogging daily – and was snapped early yesterday morning in St James’s Park wearing bright red running shorts.
A friend of Boris said: “Boris loves cycling, he used to go everywhere on a bike while he was mayor, so being told he can no longer do this is a real irritation or him.
“He pushed back, but the coppers were adamant and he accepts he makes quite a recognisable target.
“He is now working on other ways to burn off all those big diplomatic dinners.”
The biking ban contributed to Boris’s decision to move into an official flat reserved for the Foreign Secretary in Carlton Gardens, which overlooks Buckingham Palace.
His commute to the Foreign Office via his official government limo from the Johnson’s family home in Islington was taking more than an hour.
Meanwhile motorists in the capital, including a raft of Cabinet ministers, still lambast Boris for his cycle network, which has cut several major roads down to one lane and caused long traffic jams.
Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson was so incensed by the lanes, he even threatened to stand for London Mayor himself simply to rip them out.
On Boris’a final day as the capital’s boss as he opened one of the new cycle lanes, a man on a bicycle yelled “p****” at him as he passed by.
A FCO spokesman said: “We do not comment on ministers’ personal security arrangements”.