The Velodrome Suisse is an indoor

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 Track tran ...

Grenchen, Switzerland Grenchen (french: Granges) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Lebern (district), Lebern in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Solothurn (canton), Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located at the foot of the Jura m ...

. The hall covers an area of 8000 square meters and has a capacity for 1800 spectators. The velodrome itself is meters long, made of

Siberian spruce ''Picea obovata'', the Siberian spruce, is a spruce native to Siberia, from the Ural Mountains east to Magadan Oblast, and from the Arctic tree line south to the Altay Mountains in northwestern Mongolia. Description and uses It is a medium-siz ...

wood and is applied according to the UCI standards. The banked curve is 46% steep and includes a vertical drop of 7 meters. The velodrome primary serves as a training center for the Swiss team and for the junior selection, but the track is also available to recreational cyclists. The interior consists of three different surfaces, which can also be used for other sports, fairs and concerts but also for cultural and economic events. In addition, the Velodrome Suisse houses a gym, a training center with medical and physio practice, the BMC Concept Store, Restaurant and Catering, and 30 hotel beds. The

Swiss Cycling Swiss Cycling is the national governing body of cycle racing in Switzerland. The organisation is a member of the UCI and the UEC. External links Swiss Cycling official website National members of the European Cycling Union Cycle racing ...

Federation also uses a portion of the office space as headquarters. The Velodrome is located between two stadiums for football and athletics, directly opposite the headquarters of the initiator, the Swiss entrepreneur Andy Rihs, owner of the bicycle brand BMC. Velodrome Suisse Innenansicht

The CHF 17 million project was financed from both public and private donations. The Velodrome Suisse is the second modern indoor velodrome in Switzerland, after the

World Cycling Centre The World Cycling Centre (WCC, french: Centre Mondial du Cyclisme) is a coaching and training centre in Aigle, Switzerland. It contains a indoor velodrome, a BMX racing track and other non-cycling facilities. It was built in 2002 to celebrate the ...

of the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

Aigle , neighboring_municipalities= Vaud: Yvorne, Leysin, Ormont-Dessous, Ollon; Valais: Vouvry, Collombey-Muraz , twintowns = L'Aigle (France), Tübingen (Germany), Bassersdorf (Switzerland) } Aigle (French language, French for "eagle", ; frp, ...

. The hall was built according to the Minergie standard and built by a foundation set up specifically for this purpose, whose chairman is Rihs who dedicated himself two million francs. In 2013 the second stage of the

2013 Tour de Romandie The 2013 Tour de Romandie was the 67th running of the Tour de Romandie cycling stage race. The race consisted of six stages, beginning with a prologue stage in Le Châble on 23 April and concluded with another individual time trial, in Geneva, on 2 ...

finished on the Velodrome Suisse, and in January 2014, a six-day race was held. On 23 June, the Velodrome was officially opened with an "open day". On 18 September 2014

Jens Voigt Jens Voigt (; born 17 September 1971) is a German former professional road bicycle racer and, upon retirement, became a cycling sports broadcast commentator. During his cycling career, Voigt raced for several teams, the last one being UCI ProTe ...

rode at the velodrome a new

hour record The hour record is the record for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle from a stationary start. Cyclists attempt this record alone on the track without other competitors present. It is considered one of the most prestigious re ...

with a distance of 51.115 km. On 8 February 2015 the Australian

Rohan Dennis Rohan Dennis (born 28 May 1990) is an Australian professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Dennis was born, raised, and resides in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. He won back to back UCI men's individual ti ...

beat the

Matthias Brändle Matthias Brändle (born 7 December 1989) is an Austrian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Brändle is a seven-time winner of the Austrian National Time Trial Championships (2009, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2019, 20 ...

, who had broken it in the meantime, with a distance of 52.491 kilometers. From 14 to 18 October 2015, the

UEC European Track Championships The European Track Cycling Championships are a set of elite level competition events held annually for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling, exclusively for European cyclists, and regulated by the European Cycling Union (UEC ...

were held at the velodrome.

Joss Lowden Joscelin Kate Lowden (born 3 October 1987) is a British professional racing cyclist, who rides for . On 30 September 2021 she became the holder of the women's hour record. Professional career 2021 season In 2021, Lowden established herself ...

set the women's world

48.405 km on 30 September 2021.

Ellen van Dijk Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk (; born 11 February 1987) is a Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Besides road cycling she was also a track cyclist until 2012. Van Dijk is known as a time ...

improved this to 49,254 km on May 23rd 2022.

References

External links

* Sport in Switzerland Velodromes in Switzerland {{cycling-venue-stub

See also

References

External links