OLYMPIC and World cycling champion Chris Hoy has claimed that plans to demolish the velodrome in which he trained could damage the development of a new generation of Scottish track stars.
Hoy, Scotland's most successful ever cyclist with nine world championship gold medals and the current Olympic 1km time trial title to his name, was a regular user of the velodrome at Edinburgh's Meadowbank Stadium during the early part of his m
eteoric career.
But, writing in Scotland on Sunday today, Hoy says the decision to close the ageing stadium, currently the home of the Edinburgh Racers club, without a definite replacement will effectively prevent cycling talent from following in his footsteps.
The city council announced Meadowbank's closure and the redevelopment of the site two years ago. Although a new velodrome is to be built in Glasgow for the 2014 Commonwealth Games it will not be ready until 2010 at the earliest.
Hoy says: "My big concern is that once Glasgow is built, Meadowbank will be demolished and the chance to keep the Edinburgh Racers club going will be in jeopardy.
"Without the grassroots introduction to the sport, there will be a whole generation of kids that won't have the opportunity to try out track cycling and one or two could have gone on to become Olympic or world champions."
Hoy said Meadowbank had played a big part in his personal development and that of Olympic cycling team-mate Craig MacLean. "If Meadowbank hadn't existed there is no question that I wouldn't be where I am today – or Craig MacLean for that matter.
"And to expect a kid of 12, who is just trying out cycling for fun, to get his parents to take him through to Glasgow and back twice a week is unlikely. Today's elite riders will travel, but what about the future champions?
"The future of the sport depends on there being a facility and I fear for the future of Scottish cycling. There is expertise in Edinburgh that's been built up over 40 years and that will all be lost if Meadowbank isn't replaced. But it is politicians and not sportspeople who make these decisions, and sometimes it is a shame that we do not have more of a voice."
Meadowbank stadium and velodrome was purpose-built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games and was the scene of many Scottish athletic triumphs, but it has recently suffered from lack of funding. It has been at the centre of junior racing in and around the capital since its construction.
In 2006, the council announced plans to demolish the facility and sell part of the land to property developers. Proposals to build a new, smaller sports complex on the site have done little to stem criticism from a number of sports bodies, community councils and some MSPs, who claim the disappearance of Meadowbank will leave a gaping void in local sports provision.
Particular concerns have been raised about the loss of a cycling track, which has not been included in proposals for the new scaled-down sports centre.
Hoy's father, David, who has been leading the drive to improve and maintain bike racing facilities in Edinburgh since 1994, said Scotland would be facing a medal drought if the young talent coming through Meadowbank was not kept alive. He said: "What we will have will be a world-class facility in Glasgow, with world-class coaches, but we won't have that feed-through of talented riders.
"It's generally accepted in any athletic discipline that it takes eight years to produce a world-class athlete. If the Glasgow velodrome is not ready until 2010, then it's going to be 2019, 2020 before it will be producing any top-class athletes. So we'll be going from a very successful era where we've got a lot of promising athletes, to one where we'll have one of the best velodromes in the world, but no Scottish medals being won in it."
A spokesman for Edinburgh City Council denied that the demolition of the velodrome would mean the end of cycling in the capital, and said that while a new race track was not assured, neither had it been ruled out.
He said: "Cycling does have a future in Edinburgh, but our plans are at very early stages. We have made a commitment to provide a new cycling facility in Edinburgh, but what that facility ends up being will depend on the discussions that we are having with Scottish Cycling and other key organisations."
