Olympic velodrome builder bankrupt, construction handed over to new contractor

The company charged with building the as yet incomplete Olympic Games velodrome in Rio de Janeiro, Tecnosolo, has filed for bankruptcy protection, leading the city's government to cancel the company's contract. Another company that has been acting as a sub-contractor, Engetécnica, is taking over the project to complete it, according to Reuters.

The city insists that the switch will not impact completion of the venue before it is due to be handed over to the Olympic organisers in June, but the delays have become a source of worry for UCI president Brian Cookson, who spoke last week about the issues to the Associated Press.

"The test event was due for the end of March and was cancelled, and we had previous plans before that put back as well," Cookson said. "We talked about a training weekend at the end of June but now we understand there are problems with that as well. All of these things are very, very worrying."

The velodrome is the most delayed of any venue, although the city government insists it is 88 per cent complete.

There are six days of track racing scheduled from August 11 to August 16.