Proposed temporary velodrome may hit the road

Syndicate looking for partners to commercialise concept

By Gerard Knapp

Cycling's most expensive accessory or biggest luxury, you could say, is an indoor velodrome, preferably with a track made of Baltic pine. But it's also the best venue for watching the sport in its most pure form, and track cycling has been a proven sell-out at major sports jamborees like the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

For that reason, the organisers of the 2006 Asian Games, to be held in Doha, Qatar, on the Persian Gulf, decided to reinstate track cycling into its program.

But a major problem for Doha is that it doesn't have a purpose-built 250 metre indoor velodrome that is homologated to UCI specifications.

And it's not just next year's Asian Games that will need a velodrome. In fact, there are several planned events to be held around the world that will each require a UCI-standard velodrome.

For this reason, the designer of the Dunc Gray velodrome used for the Sydney 2000 Olympics, Ryder Associates, is forming a consortium to build a fully transportable velodrome.

"It soon became obvious to us that a down-the-line profitable business opportunity is there to make continued use of such a very large transportable facility for track cycling," said architect Paul Ryder, principal of the Sydney-based firm.

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