Spectators will sit here. (Image credit: Shane Stokes)
In just over a week’s time the 2007 world track championships will be held in the newly-constructed Palma Arena in Majorca. Cyclingnews' Shane Stokes visited the site earlier this year and saw the scale of the work that was in progress to get the venue finished in time.
On February 16th, the day after the end of the Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca, Cyclingnews had the chance to visit the location for the 2007 track worlds. Situated in the north of Palma, the island’s capital, the Palma Arena was still very much in the process of being built. Five hundred workmen were labouring day and night to get the velodrome and surrounding structure finished in time for the worlds, which will see riders from many different countries scrap it out from March 29th - April 1st.
It has, to say the least, been a considerable task. Construction began in November 2005 and on April 2 2006 - less than a year from the date of the worlds - the site was largely bare. As the photos show, in July there was still not a lot of above-ground construction, although this had improved somewhat three months later. From that point on things accelerated; by October 8th the walls were largely completed and the central structure which would support the roof was in place. The framework was finished by December and the roof was completed early in the New Year.
