Manchester Velodrome is an indoor Olympic-standard cycle-racing track in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England, which opened in 1994. Part of the

National Cycling Centre The National Cycling Centre is a multipurpose cycling venue in Sportcity, Manchester, United Kingdom. It includes an indoor Manchester Velodrome, Velodrome and a BMX racing, BMX arena and outdoor mountain biking, mountain bike trials. It also ha ...

, the facility has been home to

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national sport governing body, governing body for cycle sport in United Kingdom, Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands a ...

since 1994, coinciding with the nation's rise to track cycling dominance at World and Olympic level. The velodrome was also home to UCI ProTeam Ineos Grenadiers, formerly known as Team Sky between 2010 and 2019, a period when the team won 6

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, 2

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

and 1

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

with Great Britain riders. The Manchester Velodrome has been cited as the major catalyst for Britain's successes in track and road cycling and has been described by ''

Cycling Weekly ''Cycling Weekly'' is the world's oldest cycling publication. It is both a weekly cycling magazine and a news, features and buying advice website. It is published by Future plc, Future. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club c ...

'' as the "beating heart of British Cycling’s ascension to the top of world cycling". For 18 years from opening, it was the only indoor Olympic-standard track in the United Kingdom before the completion of the

Lee Valley VeloPark Lee Valley VeloPark is a cycling centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, 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 pe ...

for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. It is one of the busiest velodromes in the world used by both professional cyclists and members of the public from 8am to 10pm. The venue hosted track cycling for the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

and forms part of the

Sportcity Sportcity in Manchester is a multipurpose sports and leisure facility. Originally built to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games, it is in east Manchester, North West England, a mile from Manchester city centre, and was developed on former industri ...

complex, located adjacent to the

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium, currently known as Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, and commonly shortened as The Etihad, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City, with a domestic football capacity of 53, ...

, host stadium for the 2002 Games and home of

Manchester City F.C Manchester City Football Club is a professional football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Assoc ...

. It has also hosted the

UCI Track Cycling World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, hosts regular meets of the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

track cycling series and now hosts

Six-day racing Six-day cycling is a track cycling event that takes place over six days. Six-day races started in Britain, spread to many regions of the world, were brought to their modern style in the United States and are now mainly a European event. Initiall ...

. The

National Indoor BMX Arena The National Indoor BMX Arena is an indoor BMX racing facility, located in Sportcity, Manchester, United Kingdom. The arena was designed by Ellis Williams Architects and built by contractors Sir Robert McAlpine. It is situated next to the Manches ...

adjacent opened in 2011 and the Velodrome can be accessed from the Metrolink Velopark tram stop on the East Manchester Line.

Velodrome

The Manchester Velodrome was developed as a joint venture between

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for 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 partners, ...

Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester has had an elected local authority since 1838, which has been re ...

and

, who recognised the need for an Olympic-standard facility in the United Kingdom to improve British track cycling. Funding was provided by the government, through the Department of the Environment (£6.5m), the Sports Council (£2m) and the Foundation for Sport and the Arts (£1m). Manchester City Council is the freehold owner and the centre is managed by the Eastlands Trust (formerly named the Velodrome Trust). The Velodrome was dismissed by some as a potential white elephant prior to opening – concerns that were later unfounded with the facility well used by the public and a key part of Britain's ascension to the top of track cycling. The velodrome was designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects and has garnered a reputation for speed since its opening. The centre's roof structure is based around a 122-metre, 200 tonne arch allowing for an unrestricted viewing area for spectators. Covered by an aluminium roof, the total structure weighs around 600 tonnes. The track is 250 metres long and its bankings reach 42 degrees in the middle. The track is as steep at the top as it is on the black (racing) line. On 21 May 2007 the velodrome closed for resurfacing in Siberian pine at a cost of £400,000. It reopened on 16 July 2007, and is considered a smoother ride. By 30 March 2008, more than 15 world records had been set, including Chris Boardman's 1996 and 2000 hour records and the 4000 metre

team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

record set by the Great Britain men's team at the 2008 World Championships. The UCI hour record set by Boardman in the Best Human Effort category in 1996, was rescinded by UCI in 2000 and subsequent attempts at breaking

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (born 17 June 1945), known as Eddy Merckx (, ), is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an ...

's 1972 record stopped as UCI believed advanced bicycle technology gave cyclists too much help. Boardman set out to break the record on a bike comparable to Eddy Merckx's 1972 machine. He surpassed the record at the velodrome in 2000, achieving a distance of 49.444 km as against the 1972 record of 49.431 km, and then retired. The velodrome has become a popular venue for cyclists with taster and practice sessions frequently booked up several weeks in advance. In 2011, the

was opened next to the velodrome. Plans proposed in 2012 included a mountain bike trail on Clayton Vale, which would be the first facility of its kind in the United Kingdom and would aim to replicate Britain's performance on the track in mountain biking.

Events

Revolution

The Revolution Series opened in 2003 to build on events such as the world championships and World Cup meetings and provide more regular events. There were four Revolution events over the winter of 2003–04. They built good crowds. The seventh, in 2005, sold all the seats with further fans standing. The first official sell-out was Revolution 14. The series of sprint and endurance events runs on Saturday nights. Internationals compete with British stars and up-and-coming talent. Some riders have retired at Revolution events, rewarded with a retirement presentation. A Future Stars competition has races for young riders aged 15 or 16 to test their sprint and endurance. Olympic riders Jason Kenny and Steven Burke came up through this series. In 2012 it was announced that Revolution events would take place at the recently opened London Velodrome and Glasgow Velodrome from 2013.

Other events

On 2 July 2009

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performed at the velodrome as part of the 2009

Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first takin ...

. As they performed ''

'', four members of the British Olympic cycling team entered and rode laps of the track.

Notable events

A list of notable events which Manchester Velodrome has hosted: * 1994 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 1995 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 1996 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships *

1996 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 1996 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship for track cycling. They took place in Manchester, United Kingdom from August 28 to September 1, 1996. Twelve events were contested, eight for the men and four for the wom ...

* 1997 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 1998 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 1999 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 2000 UCI Track Cycling World Championships * 2001 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 2002 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships *

References

External links

Official website
{{Manchester B&S Cycle racing in England Velodromes in England 2002 Commonwealth Games venues Sports venues in Manchester 1994 establishments in England Sports venues completed in 1994 Velo