With the test event for track cycling at this summer’s Olympics postponed until late April or early May, and the boards only now being laid at the new velodrome, there is “no plan B” in the event of the Rio venue not being ready, says the UCI president, Brian Cookson.
“I was assured this week that the track will be ready; Mr Schurmann and his carpenters are on site with their hammers and nails, and they are about to start work, if they haven’t already started,” said Cookson. ”It’s a challenge and I’m sure we will have a velodrome in place, no doubt about that, but the test event remains a challenge. It would be very regrettable not to have a test event. It’s not impossible to have Olympic track racing without a test event, but it’s not desirable; it makes it harder for everybody.”
The Rio velodrome, located in the Barra Olympic Park, was said to be 76% complete in December, but the test event – the Aquece Rio International Track Cycling Challenge, scheduled for 18-20 March – was postponed until 29 April to 1 May. The Great Britain team have said they will send staff but no riders.
If the velodrome is not ready in time, Cookson said: “There is no plan B. There is not another usable velodrome in Brazil as far as I know and there has to be a velodrome. The building is virtually there, timings are the issue. But that’s not just true for the velodrome, it’s the same for other venues. They’ve had well-publicised problems, but I want to be supportive and the UCI will help as much as we can.”
Cookson repeated that, after Rio, the UCI will request an expansion of the track programme at future Games to redress the balance after the loss of events following Beijing, although he added that while the UCI would like to see an expansion of the women’s roadrace field to match the current numbers in the men’s event, it is more likely that the men’s numbers may be reduced.
Cookson also confirmed that more than 200 bikes are expected to have been tested for hidden motors at this world championships, using a new technology which allows a tablet or mobile phone to be used to detect “anything capable of generating power” within a bike, which can then be examined for anything suspicious.
A hearing is expected before the end of this month for the first case in which a motor was found in a bike, the episode involving the Belgian rider Femke Van den Driessche at the cyclocross world championships. Cookson added that the UCI has asked its disciplinary commission for “a very severe sanction”, and that he sees the case as sending “a clear message that we are on top of the issue”.
