Chicago proposes new Olympic cycling venues

Two Wisconsin cities, Madison and Mt. Horeb, are the newly proposed road cycling and mountain biking venues for the Chicago 2016 Olympic Games bid expected to be submitted to the International Olympic Committee on February 12 according to the Chicago Tribune. The International Cycling Union (UCI) had previously advised those preparing the bid that their first choices for courses were too flat.

In the revised proposal presented at a press conference on Friday, Madison would host the road and time trial courses with the road race consisting of three loops within the city and five outside of it near Blue Mound. The time trial would stay within Madison, and Mt. Horeb's Tyrol Basin ski area would host the mountain bike events. Madison would serve as the Olympic outdoor cycling center, featuring an Olympic village for approximately 320 cyclists at some University of Wisconsin dormitories expected to be built by 2014.

UCI President Pat McQuaid had not yet received formal notification of the proposed course changes, but said that having cycling venues outside of the host city would not be a negative when evaluating the bid. "Sites always are spread out," McQuaid said. "In China, the equestrian (Hong Kong) and sailing (Qingdao) were both far outside Beijing. The most important thing is to have a good course that gives a good race for television and promotes our sport in the region and the area."