British Cycling To Stay In Manchester

There are no plans to move the base of the British cycling team away from Manchester to the new velodrome being built for the London 2012 Olympics according to the sport’s national governing body.

Manchester’s Olympic-standard velodrome is currently the home of British cycling but a new velodrome is being built in London for the 2012 Olympics which has led to rumours that the team were to be relocated.

A spokeswoman for British Cycling however has confirmed that they were ‘100% committed’ to Manchester.

‘Basically, we are staying put. It’s the best and brightest velodrome in the country and there is no reason for us to move to London.

‘The National BMX Centre will soon be built at SportCity next to the velodrome and our new offices are going to be set up between the two venues.’

The British team’s Manchester base is largely credited with the seven gold medals picked up by Team GB’s cyclists at the Beijing games in 2008.

Four-times Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy, who lives in Salford, has welcomed the building of a new venue despite wanting to keep his base in the North West.

‘What’s great about London is that we’ll have another venue for people to train at and to reach a whole new population.

‘So all these kids that see cycling on TV and fancy a shot will be able to get access to a world-standard velodrome. It also means there’s another place for us to compete at as well.’

The National Cycling Centre was set up in Manchester ahead of the 2002 Commonwealth Games and the velodrome is widely regarded as one of the finest and fastest track cycling venues in the world.

It is also the headquarters of British Cycling, the sport’s national governing body, currently celebrating its 50th year.

The 250m track in Manchester has a reputation for speed, with 15 world records, and has hosted three World Championships as well as numerous world-class events.

The recent Track World Cup saw further success as British cyclists racked up 10 gold medals over three days.

British Cycling is also hoping to cement its links with Manchester with plans for a Cycling Hall of Fame in the city.

Civic leaders recently bestowed the freedom of Manchester on Team GB’s cyclists following their success at the 2008 Beijing Games.