Lee Valley VeloPark is a cycling centre on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in

Stratford, London Stratford is a town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. Until 1965 it was within the historic county of Essex. Part of the Lower Lea Valley, Stratford is situated 6 miles (10 km) east-northeast of Char ...

, England. It is owned and managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, and it was opened to the public in March 2014. The facility was one of the permanent venues for the 2012

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

and

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

Games. Lee Valley VeloPark is at the northern end of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It has a

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

and

BMX racing BMX racing is a type of off-road bicycle racing. The format of BMX was derived from motocross racing. BMX bicycle races are sprint races on purpose-built off-road single-lap race tracks. The track usually consists of a starting gate for up to ei ...

track, which have been used for the Games, as well as a one-mile (1.6 km)

road course Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...

and 5 miles (8 km) of mountain bike trails. The park replaces the Eastway Cycle Circuit demolished to make way for it. The facilities built for the Olympics were constructed between 2009 and 2011. The first event in the Velopark was the London round of the 2011 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup series.

Planning

In February 2005, plans were announced for a £22 million VeloPark.

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded p ...

would invest £10.5 million, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority £6 million and the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

and Transport for London would invest £3 million and £2.5 million respectively. The site was to be 34 hectares on the northern end of the proposed Olympic Park, next to the A12. The park would include a velodrome seating 1,500, which could be increased to 6,000 if London's bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games were successful. The site would also have an international competition BMX circuit, a BMX freestyle park, cyclo-cross/cross-country course mountain bike course and an outdoor cycle speedway track. The facilities would be used by internationals as well as those learning to ride. It was estimated that the park would attract 88,000 users a year, replacing the Eastway Cycle Circuit. Eastway Cycle Circuit opened in 1975, it was the first purpose built road cycling venue in Britain. The facility closed in September 2006 to make way for London's VeloPark. The velodrome is the third covered track in Great Britain. In September 2008 plans for the VeloPark were revealed, which were chosen with help from

Chris Hoy Sir Christopher Andrew Hoy MBE (born 23 March 1976) is a former track cyclist and Racing driver from Scotland who represented Great Britain at the Olympic and World Championships and Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. Hoy is eleven-times a wo ...

. However, by March 2007, the VeloPark was revealed to be only a third of its original size, rescaled from 34 to 10 hectares. The decrease in the size of the site led to users of the Eastway cycle circuit to protest to the Mayor of London.

Builders

On 12 July 2007, the Olympic Delivery Authority selected the design team: Hopkins Architects,

Expedition Engineering Expedition Engineering is a London-based consulting firm, delivering structural engineering services. History Expedition Engineering was founded in 1999 by Professor Chris Wise (engineer for the Millennium Bridge, London) and Seán Walsh, b ...

, BDSP, and Grant Associates, following an

architectural design competition An architectural design competition is a type of design competition in which an organization that intends on constructing a new building invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel ...

managed by

RIBA Competitions RIBA Competitions is the Royal Institute of British Architects' unit dedicated to organising architectural and other design-related competitions. Architectural design competitions are used by an organisation that plans to build a new building or re ...

. The Velopark was scheduled to be completed by the contractor, ISG, in 2011. In 2004, during London's Olympic and Paralympic bid, the estimated cost was £37 million, including £20 million for the velodrome.

Velodrome

In 2009, at the time work began on the construction of the velodrome, the estimated cost of that facility alone was £105 million. Work on the velodrome was completed in February 2011, and was the first Olympic Park venue to be completed. The roof is designed to reflect the geometry of cycling as well as being lightweight and efficient reflecting a bike. There is also a 360-degree concourse level with windows allowing people views of the Olympic Park. The velodrome is energy efficient—rooflights reduce the need for artificial lights, and natural ventilation reduces the need for air condition. Rain water is also collected, which reduces the amount of water used from the municipal water system. Designer

Ron Webb Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

, who designed the velodrome tracks for the Sydney and Athens Games, was in charge of the design and installation of the track. The 250-metre track was made with of Siberian Pine and 350,000 nails. The velodrome was officially opened by many successful British athletes including

and Victoria Pendleton. It is informally known as "The Pringle" due to its distinctive shape. It was shortlisted for the 2011 RIBA Stirling Prize. and won the 2011 Structural Awards Supreme Award for Structural Engineering. In 2011, it also won the Prime Minister's Better Public Building Award at British Construction Industry Awards. The venue was used for the first time in competition during the

UCI Track Cycling World Cup The UCI Track Cycling World Cup (formerly known as the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics) is a multi race tournament held over a track cycling season - usually between October and February. Each series is divided into several rounds, each held i ...

in February 2012. The velodrome was also used for the 2012 Paralympics.

BMX track

The outdoor

track was scheduled to have a spectator capacity of 6,000. Work began on its construction in March 2011. After the games the seating was removed and the track reconfigured to accommodate all abilities. The first competition on the venue was the test event for the Olympic Games, a round of the 2011 UCI Supercross BMX World Cup series. The track for men is 470 metres long and features a berm jump, an S-bend transfer, a box jump and a rhythm section in the final straight. The women's course is 430 metres long featuring three jumps in the opening straight and a tunnel before like the men's including a rhythm section in the final straight. It has been called one of the most challenging BMX tracks to date. The track also features an 8-metre high starting ramp and was designed by the UCI with the aim of pushing the boundaries of the sport. of soil was used to build the track. After the Supercross world cup event,

Shanaze Reade Shanaze Danielle Reade (born 23 September 1988 in Crewe, Cheshire, United Kingdom) is a British former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer and track cyclist whose prime competitive years began in 2002. She has won the UCI BMX World Championships thr ...

called for changes to the track. She stated that the track was "on the limit" if the wind changed. Sarah Walker echoed Reade's calls stating that the track could "get ugly" on a windy day. In preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics, in 2010 the Dutch National Olympic Committee commissioned a replica of the planned BMX track at their National Sports Centre Papendal. It came into use in March 2011, ahead of the hand over of the London Velopark BMX venue.

London 2012

The venue was used for the 2012

and

track cycling competition was held in the Velodrome with the adjoining BMX track hosting the Olympic BMX competition.

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...

dominated the track cycling competition winning seven out of a possible ten gold medals plus one silver and one bronze. The GB Paralympic track cycling team won a total of 15 medals, comprising five golds, seven silver and three bronze.

Post-games

The Eastway Cycle Circuit was demolished for the VeloPark before being merged with the new park. It was announced that along with the VeloPark there would be three new cycle circuits created around London. In early February 2007 the plans for the VeloPark were revised with no mountain bike course. By mid-February it was announced that Hog Hill would be the temporary relocation of the Eastway Cycle Centre. The promised cycle speedway track will not be built."£50 million for cycling – but Olympic Velopark downgraded"
. ''

Cycling Weekly ''Cycling Weekly'' is a British cycling magazine. It is published by Future and is devoted to the sport and pastime of cycling. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club cyclists as "The Comic".Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded p ...

and

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Bri ...

. The course will now cross the River Lee and parkland linking up with other cycle routes in London. British Cycling will remain based at the Olympic-standard Manchester Velodrome which has been a catalyst for the success of British Cycling in recent years, most notably at the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. Team manager of British Cycling,

David Brailsford Sir David John Brailsford (born 29 February 1964) is a British cycling coach. He was formerly performance director of British Cycling and is currently general manager of UCI WorldTeam . Early life Brailsford was born in Shardlow, Derbyshire, a ...

has stated that the new indoor National BMX Arena in Manchester and the undulating terrain of

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

, ideal for practising road race cycling, offer a distinct advantage over London. An agreement was struck in 2012 to bring track cycling to the London Velodrome post-2012 Olympics, with events such as

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

series which have proved popular in Manchester. In September 2013 the UCI announced that the Velodrome will host the

2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championships for track cycling in 2016. They took place in London in the Lee Valley VeloPark from 2–6 March 2016. As the last major track cycling event prior to the 2016 Summer O ...

. The London Development Agency (LDA) have funded a new permanent road cycle circuit and mountain bike course at the Redbridge Cycling Centre, costing £5m. The

London Borough of Redbridge The London Borough of Redbridge is a London borough established in 1965. The borough shares boundaries with the Epping Forest District and the ceremonial county of Essex to the north, with the London Borough of Waltham Forest to the west, the ...

will be funding the facility up to the completion of the legacy London Velopark. Work is underway to identify an operator of Hog Hill beyond 2012.

Later events

Since opening for the public in March 2014, Lee Valley VeloPark has staged a number of major international events. The first that took place in the venue was the grand finale of the

series in February 2014. This was followed by the opening round of the 2014–15 Revolution Series in October 2014 and in December 2014, the

took place at Lee Valley VeloPark. In February 2015, round five of the Revolution Series was staged at the venue while in February 2016, it hosted the

. On 7 June 2015, Sir

Bradley Wiggins Sir Bradley Marc Wiggins, CBE (born 28 April 1980) is a British former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2016. He began his cycling career on the track, but later made the transition to r ...

broke the UCI Hour record at the Velodrome, setting a distance of . The facility hosted the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England b ...

track cycling competition.

Velodrome awards

*Winner 2011 the

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100 Building of the Year Awards *Winner 2011 Prime Minister's Better Public Building Award *Winner 2011

RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

(Royal Institute of British Architects)

Stirling Prize The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The S ...

for Architecture Public Vote *Finalist 2011

for Architecture *Winner 2011 IStructE (The Institution of Structural Engineers) Structural Awards Supreme Award for Structural Engineering *Winner 2012 Architecture Award Design Museum's Design Awards *Winner 2012 ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' Decoration British Design Awards *Winner 2013 International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering Outstanding Structure Award

References

External links

London 2012 Olympics BMX Track profile

London 2012 Velodrome profile

Lee Valley VeloPark , Better
{{Authority control 2011 establishments in England Venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics 2012 Summer Paralympics BMX tracks Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics Indoor arenas in London Lee Valley Park Olympic cycling venues Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Sport in the London Borough of Newham Sports venues completed in 2011 Velodromes in England 2012 Summer Paralympic venues Buildings by Hopkins Architects 2022 Commonwealth Games venues Cycling at the 2022 Commonwealth Games