Tel Aviv presents The First Olympic Velodrome in the Middle East

Tel Aviv, Wednesday May 2nd 2018, The City of Tel Aviv unveiled Israel's newest Velodrome, the most advanced indoor bike racing arena in the Middle East. The Velodrome’s unveiling took place a few days before the start of the Giro d’Italia in Israel, one of the world’s most significant sporting events scheduled to reach Tel Aviv on Saturday May 5th, marking the first time a segment of the Giro d’Italia is held outside of Europe. The Velodrome will be seen by billions of viewers from around the world this upcoming Saturday, as the Giro d ’Italia cyclists will ride passed it during the Tel Aviv leg of the race.         

The unveiling took place yesterday, Tuesday May 1st in the presence of Mr. Ron Huldai, The Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, The Chairman of the Israel Cycling Federation and professional cyclists from the Israel Cycling Academy, who tested the race tracks for the first time together with Sylvan Adams, the Honorary President of the Giro’s “Big Start” in Israel.  The tracks have also been tested by Gilles Peruzzi, the Director of the Velodrome Department at The International Cycling Union (UCI) who ensured that the tracks meet the UCI standards in order to be able to welcome international competitions at the facility. In addition, The Israel Cycling Union has submitted its candidacy to host the UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championship in 2021.

At the event, the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Mr. Ron Huldai said: "3 years ago, Sylvan Adams told me that it makes no sense that a global city such as Tel Aviv-Yafo doesn’t have a professional cycling facility. The Municipality took on the challenge, and in a few months we will inaugurate the Velodrome, the first Olympic racing arena in the Middle East.”

“Thanks to Sylvan, the Giro d’Italia is held outside of Europe for the first time and will be departing from Israel this weekend. We decided that this is a great opportunity to reveal this wonderful arena, which was built on the grounds of the National Sport Center.

In honor of Sylvan Adams’ generous contribution to important social projects in the city and his love for cycling, we've decided to name the velodrome after him.”

“In Tel Aviv the "bicycle revolution" happened a long time ago; bicycles are a daily mode of transport for most Telavivians, and a perfect alternative for private cars. The velodrome will provide cyclists a place to train and will promote professional sports activities in the cycling field and will also contribute to the development of the cycling industry in Israel. This weekend we will host one of the most important cycling competitions in the world and thanks to this amazing arena, we plan to host the most significant international indoor cycling competitions as well."

Sylvan Adams, The Honorary President of the Giro’s “Big Start” in Israel and the initiator of the Velodrome in Tel Aviv: “The new Velodrome aims to encourage local youth to experience the cycling world as well as promote physical activity and sports. This is the most advanced cycling facility in the Middle East and we aspire to host international competitions here with the participation of our neighboring countries. This Velodrome will allow us to use sports as a medium to foster closeness and good neighborliness between our bordering countries. Today, cycling teams from Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates landed in Israel in order to take part in the Giro, they will ride in Israel, experience the velodrome and understand that they are always welcome here and we can compete and train together!”

The Velodrome is an Olympic training arena for track cycling featuring steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights.

The ride is carried out on an elliptical wood path, with 45 degrees banking. A 3-story complex is being built adjacent to the Velodrome, and will include a cafeteria, a bicycle store, changing rooms and a doctor’s office. The two structures will be connected via a tunnel.

The Velodrome is located next to the National Sports Center in Tel Aviv and its construction was made possible through a Municipal investment of 70 Million NIS.   When completed, the velodrome will meet the Olympic standards of a 250 meters cycling track. The Velodrome comprises 900 tons of steel, 620 seats, 17 thousand connecting plates and 100 thousand screws and aims to attract cyclers from Israel and around the world.

Thank you for the infos Tel Aviv International Press.

Good luck for Giro....

Cycling Dreams, South Africa

I met Jessica last year at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle , Switzerland while visiting Tegshee. He was great to speak with her and listen to her story.

My name is Jessica Brown, I have been cycling for 7-8years. Three of those years being a professional cyclist for a women's team in South Africa and two years being a national representative. I have achievements on the road and track,

I've also represented SA at 3 international events as a junior and 2 track training camps at the WCC (World Cycling Center) in Switzerland. I'm am the 500m, team sprint and points Junior Track African Champ for 2017 and Team Sprint record holder. 

My experience as a young cycling was quite tough. I was thankful to have development teams (Uber Development & Lorraine BestMed) that helped where they could. 

We did not have many races or sponsorship to support our young rider back then and yet still today. Progress from U/16 to junior and elite is a big step for the youngsters and in the process we've lost many young riders , parents also play a big role in our cycling lives financially and supportively. Many found it expensive and unfortunately had to pull there kids out of this amazing sport. 

Two of my biggest and most amazing races in SA was the Cape August Cycle Tour and Paarl Boxing Day track event. These two events were my biggest events as a youngster, organizers and supporters brought an amazing welcoming and supportive atmosphere with some of the best races in SA. 

My expectations for young riders is for CSA (Cycling South Africa) to develop a development project, including all 6 cycling sports (road,track,bmx,mountain biking,xco and para cycling) . This will help the riders and provinces to see what development is needed to be put into the rider and performance expected. 

I also would love to see more development functions for the youth and not only coaches as we all need the guidance to show us the right direction and to make those big discussions. We expect to see more support from sponsorships and international recognition for our riders international and local. 

Young riders in SA mostly dream of making it as an international professional cyclist. Junior Worlds is there main goal, until they realize there is bigger fish out there to catch, after junior worlds there dream or goals get bigger aiming to the Olympic Games. Where others dream of representing there country with pride and making every move to get SA recognized and show them we can do it. 

My dream was always to be a professional cyclist and win an Olympic medal for my country in the 200m flying lap and 500m time trial. After my dream and goals give back to the youth and show them the direction and guid them to a successful future. 

Thank you for sharing your dreams with us.

SD Team.

Alex Jones & National Track Championship

After yesterday blog, today Alex tells us about his National Championship. 

National Mens, Womens and Para Track Championships

Three weeks later I was back at the National Cycling Centre this time to compete in my first Para National Track Champs– a daunting but exciting prospect as I would be sharing the track with the Paralympic and World Champion multi gold medallists Jody Cundy, Rik Waddon and Jon Allan Butterworth, who were all really encouraging and friendly. I knew that I would need to treat this as an experience to learn from and do my best in front of the GB coaches who were videoing my races for later analysis .

My events were the Kilo,the flying 200 and the 4k Pursuit, a race I had never done before as youths do not do those distances. I was very lucky to have my coach there to pace me and although it was an agonizing effort I got my time splits right and put in controlled first attempt. It was amazing watching the pros smash their times in the flying 200 and I was inspired by them to put down another PB. As youth rider I have been on strict gear restrictions but now I will be able to gradually increase my strength and gearing so that I will be able to compete on a more equal footing in the future. Again the results were factored but in the mens category I came away with 3rd,3rd,4th but more importantly with an improvement in all my times and another great experience to learn from. 

Thank you Alex and great effort.

Very well done from the SD Team.