Indoor velodrome in Lucknow

It was a dream come true for the countrymen, especially for the residents of Noida, when world's top most Formula One drivers raced at the Buddh International Race Circuit in October 2011 there. Since then, the sound of fast moving racing cars has become a special and annual attraction for the people of the area.

Now, a different but similarly exciting sport will be witnessed at a cycling indoor velodrome that is set to come up in Lucknow. The state government recently gave its nod for the construction of the indoor stadium with cycle racing track here. The international standard velodrome, estimated to cost around Rs 50 crore, will come up at the state government-run Guru Govind Singh Sports College.

"This would be a first of its kind stadium in the state and it would certainly help cyclists to prepare well for national and international events," said an official. According to UP Olympic Association officials, the process of making a bid for the hosting rights of the National Games in Lucknow is underway and construction of a velodrome would be a positive effort in that direction.

This would be the seventh velodrome in the country. The other six are at Commonwealth Games Velodrome at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi, wood indoor track at the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, NIS velodrome at Patiala, Osmania University Velodrome at Hyderabad, Punjabi University stadium at Patiala, and Veerangna Rani Durgawati Sports Complex at Jabalpur.