Latest news with #velodrome
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Japan Times
A seaside hotel built on competitive Japanese cycling
Despite a persistent rain off the Seto Inland Sea in early June, nine keirin bikers in brightly colored Lycra are lining up on a track in the coastal town of Tamano, their rear wheels held in a starting block so they're ready to take off as soon as the pistol fires. With the course banked to 30 degrees in places to accommodate speeds approaching 70 kilometers per hour, a wet track seems like a risky prospect. 'Nothing short of a major typhoon will make them cancel a race,' says Eiji Kosaka, reception manager of Keirin Hotel 10 . Opened in 2022, the hotel was the first in Japan to be integrated into a sports stadium — in this case, the Tamano Keirin velodrome. Most of its rooms look directly over the track, allowing guests to watch races from the comfort of a private balcony. I've come to get an up-close taste of keirin, a competitive biking discipline that started in Kyushu in 1948 to boost the postwar economy and has risen to the ranks of Olympic competition. In keirin's lapped races, cyclists initially follow a pacer, using the slipstream to get up to breakneck speeds. They remain in a predetermined order until the final laps, when the pacer exits and the racers sprint for the finish line, jostling for position. Japanese-style competitive cycling is just one of a few examples of legalized sports betting in the country. | ONKO CHISHIN I've heard the Japanese version can get fairly rough and tumble, with headbutting, thrown elbows and no brakes to soften collisions. To my relief, the soggy race I'm watching never gets ugly. The riders just zip over the line, trailing fantails of water and coasting amiably back to the locker rooms. Perhaps because of the rain, there are only a handful of spectators, so I've no crowd reaction to gauge the result. Was it the outcome expected or an upset? I'm not sure, but since punters can place bets at a track or off-site facility, by phone and even online, I know somebody somewhere is ripping up a betting slip in frustration. Keirin is big business. Alongside motorcycle, boat and horse racing, it is one of only four sports with legalized gambling in Japan. Races take place nearly every day at 43 velodromes across the country, and in fiscal 2024, the Japan Keirin Association reported over ¥1.3 trillion in betting slip turnover. Rooms at Keirin Hotel 10 offers views of both the velodrome track below and the Seto Inland Sea beyond. | ONKO CHISHIN The historic Tamano velodrome, which was established in 1951, has been there throughout most of keirin's rise to popularity. When the operators decided to renovate in 2020, they wanted to preserve the track's 70-year history while getting more use out of the facility. They settled on the idea of a hotel. 'Typically, keirin venues have athlete accommodation facilities, but these are only used during races — just a few dozen days per year,' says Tomoki Matsuyama, CEO of Keirin Hotel 10 operator Onko Chishin. 'The project team thought: 'Why not transform it into a hotel and open it to the general public?' 'We're introducing the appeal of keirin culture not only to traditional fans but also to people who know nothing about keirin, younger generations and international visitors.' The erstwhile athlete dormitory was converted into Keirin Hotel 10, an eight-floor, 149-room hotel that opened in 2022. The facilities include a restaurant, Japanese-style bath, event spaces and even a small gallery with a keirin exhibit. The athletes still stay here on race days but on floors sequestered from regular guests. Races at the Tamano Velodrome take place a few dozen days per year. | ONKO CHISHIN The DNA of the historic stadium is alive in the hotel's decor, with salvaged seats turned into rocking chairs, lap timers into colorful objets d'art and even parts of the stadium mascot, Guts Tamachan, repurposed as art in the lobby bathroom. Bike frames become chandeliers and flower vases. Hangers are halved tire rims. The bold color scheme comes from the racers' uniforms. It's a kitschy-fun immersion in the world of keirin and a ready-made chance for the cycling-loving staff to connect with guests by explaining the finer points of the sport to the uninitiated. With a location near Uno Port and rental bikes that can be taken on the ferry, the hotel makes for a convenient base for exploring Naoshima and the art islands of the Seto Inland Sea on two wheels. Meanwhile, a range of rooms from suites with semi-open-air baths and spacious balconies (¥48,450 per person per night) to budget-priced singles (¥8,580 per night) accommodates most budgets.
Times
10-08-2025
- Sport
- Times
Matthew Richardson on his bid to become fastest cyclist in history
'It's almost like yelling in my head, like I can just hear myself almost screaming.' Matthew Richardson is describing the intensity of the build-up that a sprint cyclist experiences before attempting a 200-metre flying lap, two or three laps around the velodrome pedalling furiously out of the saddle, building towards startling speeds of 86 or 87km/h before they are timed over the last 200m. One lap, one rider at top speed against the clock. 'Then you sit down, you dial into the sprint lane and everything goes quiet, and everyone's waiting …' On Thursday, at a velodrome in Konya, Turkey, everyone will be waiting for the clock to register Richardson's time to see whether he has succeeded in his ambition to become the first rider in history to ride 200m in less than nine seconds. He has gone close before, setting a world record of 9.091sec at the Olympics in Paris last year, but five minutes later the record was broken by Harrie Lavreysen, of the Netherlands, whose 9.088 remains the benchmark Richardson will be seeking to eclipse this week.
BBC News
29-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
UK's oldest velodrome in Brighton recovers after closure
It might be a wonky shape, outdoors and made of tarmac but a velodrome in East Sussex is the oldest in the UK, according to British Park Velodrome in Brighton was dug out by hand by the British Army and opened for competition in competitive racing stopped in 2014 after the track was declared unsafe, resuming two years later after safety Rogers, cyclist and author, said the track was "both unusual and unique". The velodrome in Brighton is one of just a few to not be oval-shaped, instead comprising of the rather unusual four straights and two slightly banked corners. Mr Rogers said: "Unlike velodromes we see in the Olympics, this one has almost no banking. "It is flat all the way around."As tracks go it is pretty rough. It is tarmac and outdoors."Most tracks are now built indoors with 250m of Siberian pine." As well as being the oldest track in the country, Preston Park claims to also be the longest, at 579m (1900 ft).Mr Rogers said: "It is the only track in the country where you go uphill along the back straight and then downhill. "People who come here to compete from other parts of the country are quite taken aback and can't believe it's still here in this form." Between 3,000 and 5,000 spectators were a regular occurrence up until the Rogers said: "In its heyday there would probably be big crowds here, probably bigger than to watch nearby Brighton & Hove Albion."The velodrome boasts a cricket pitch on the grass in its centre. It is tucked away beneath Victorian flint walls. Mr Rogers said: "One of the beauties of it is that it is hidden. "It's a pleasant place to picnic, to relax and to ride."
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UK's oldest velodrome recovers after closure
It might be a wonky shape, outdoors and made of tarmac but a velodrome in East Sussex is the oldest in the UK, according to British Cycling. Preston Park Velodrome in Brighton was dug out by hand by the British Army and opened for competition in 1877. But competitive racing stopped in 2014 after the track was declared unsafe, resuming two years later after safety improvements. Anthony Rogers, cyclist and author, said the track was "both unusual and unique". The velodrome in Brighton is one of just a few to not be oval-shaped, instead comprising of the rather unusual four straights and two slightly banked corners. Mr Rogers said: "Unlike velodromes we see in the Olympics, this one has almost no banking. "It is flat all the way around. "As tracks go it is pretty rough. It is tarmac and outdoors. "Most tracks are now built indoors with 250m of Siberian pine." As well as being the oldest track in the country, Preston Park claims to also be the longest, at 579m (1900 ft). Mr Rogers said: "It is the only track in the country where you go uphill along the back straight and then downhill. "People who come here to compete from other parts of the country are quite taken aback and can't believe it's still here in this form." Between 3,000 and 5,000 spectators were a regular occurrence up until the mid-1950s. Mr Rogers said: "In its heyday there would probably be big crowds here, probably bigger than to watch nearby Brighton & Hove Albion." The velodrome boasts a cricket pitch on the grass in its centre. It is tucked away beneath Victorian flint walls. Mr Rogers said: "One of the beauties of it is that it is hidden. "It's a pleasant place to picnic, to relax and to ride." Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Velodrome reopens for competitions Preston Park Velodrome British Cycling
BBC News
11-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Living legacy' Evans dreaming of Glasgow Games
Neah Evans wanted to be a showjumper, but an injury to her horse prevented her riding. So she took up fell running instead, only for anaemia to curtail her early 20s, feeling gloomy and losing her love for sport, the veterinary student grudgingly accepted dad Malcolm's surprise booking of a 'give it a go' cycling session at the Sir Chris Hoy who had cycled as a child, had never been on a bike without brakes. She'd never used clip-in pedals. She'd never even been inside a velodrome. But with Glasgow 2014 looming and the track - built for the event - open to the public, she found herself making a decision that would change her life."I almost just went to appease my dad, but it was a sliding doors moment because I absolutely loved it and everything just snowballed," she tells BBC Sport how. Evans is speaking in that same velodrome 11 years later as the owner of world and European golds, as well as silvers from two separate Olympics and four Commonwealth Games the track beside her, members of the public can still borrow a bike and helmet and have a go just like she did. And one day they might even end up like her. "If it wasn't for Glasgow 2014, and this place hadn't been built, I wouldn't be a cyclist," says Evans, who confesses that her "lively" student lifestyle took precedence over attending any events at those Games."When people talk about legacy and those buzzwords, I normally kind of go, 'oh yeah, does it actually work?'. But I'm living proof that it could change your life."Not that it happened immediately for Evans, who still readily describes herself as "an accidental athlete".Cycling remained a hobby while she qualified and worked as a vet. And it was only a year before the Gold Coast Games of 2018 that she became a full-time went to Australia as part of Team Scotland expecting to discover she wasn't good enough to be a professional and destined for a life working with animals. But Evans won silver and bronze and suddenly a whole new career opened up in front of her. "I was like 'huh, I'm quite good at this'," she recalls. "It was a turning point. That's why the Commonwealth Games are really special for me because I can pinpoint that as when I transitioned from being a vet who did a bit of cycling to seeing myself as a cyclist." With all that in mind, the Games returning to Glasgow next summer will mark a particular high point for the wake of a second successful Olympics, the 34-year-old's focus has switched to road racing for this season. It has not gone well, with a succession of calamities befalling her, but she will be back on the boards next competed - and won - at the worlds in Glasgow in 2023, she knows what the sights, sounds and smells of the event will be and is using those memories to propel her through the her ongoing struggles."When you're faced with a four-hour bike ride in the rain and don't really fancy it, you think, 'come on, the Games are coming up' and that keeps you going," she says."It's still at the dream stage just now - standing on the top step hearing the anthem - but you know the work you do now is going to have an impact."
