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

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, England, which opened in 1994. Part of the National Cycling Centre, the facility has been home to British Cycling since 1994, coinciding with the nations 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

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, 2 Vuelta a Espana and 1 Giro d'Italia 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'' 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 for the 2012 Summer Olympics. 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 and forms part of the Sportcity complex, located adjacent to the

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, host stadium for the 2002 Games and home of Manchester City F.C. 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 ...

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and

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, hosts regular meets of the

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 ...

track cycling series and now hosts Six-day racing. The National Indoor BMX Arena 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

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Manchester City Council Manchester City Council is the local authority for Manchester, a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. Manchester is the sixth largest city in England by population. Its city council is composed of 96 councillors, three f ...

and British Cycling, 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 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'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 National Indoor BMX Arena 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. 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 * 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 The 2000 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship for track cycling. They took place in Manchester, United Kingdom from October 26 to October 30, 2000. Medal table Medal summary Notes References External linksW ...

* 2001 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 2002 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 2002 Commonwealth Games *

2003 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societies ...

* 2003–04 Revolution – Season 1 * 2004 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 2004 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics (Round 3) * 2004–05 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics (Round 3) * 2004–05 Revolution – Season 2 * 2005–06 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics (Round 2) * 2005 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 2005–06 Revolution – Season 3 * 2006 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 2006–07 Revolution – Season 4 * 2006–07 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics (Round 4) * 2007 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 2007–08 Revolution – Season 5 * 2008–09 Revolution – Season 6 *

2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics The 2008–2009 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics was a multi race competition over a season of track cycling. The season ran from 31 October 2008 to 18 February 2009. The World Cup is organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The World C ...

(Round 1) *

2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship for track cycling. They took place at the Manchester Velodrome in Manchester, United Kingdom from 26 to 30 March 2008. Eighteen events were scheduled; the women's team pur ...

* 2009–10 Revolution – Season 7 * 2009–10 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics (Round 1) * 2010–11 Revolution – Season 8 *

2010–11 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics The 2010–2011 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics was a multi race tournament over a season of track cycling. The season ran from 2 December 2010 to 20 February 2011. The World Cup is organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale. As in the pr ...

(Round 4) *

2011 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''E ...

* 2011–12 Revolution – Season 9 *

2012 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

* 2012–13 Revolution – Season 10 (Rounds 1, 2, and 3) * 2013 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 2013–14 Revolution – Season 11 (Rounds 1, 3, and 4) *

2013–14 UCI Track Cycling World Cup The 2013–2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup was a multi race tournament over a track cycling season. It was the twenty-second series of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The series ran from 1 Novemb ...

(Round 1) * 2014 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships * 2015 UCI Track Cycling Masters World Championships *

2019 British National Track Championships The 2019 British National Track Championships were a series of track cycling competitions held from 25–27 January 2019 at the Manchester Velodrome. They are organised and sanctioned by British Cycling, and were open to British cyclists. The cham ...

References

External links

Official website
Cycle racing in England Velodromes in England 2002 Commonwealth Games venues Sports venues in Manchester 1994 establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in 1994 Velo {{coord missing, Greater Manchester