Getting the Rio velodrome ready for Olympic track test event in April a ‘challenge’: UCI president

There are just five months left before the 2016 summer Olympics kick off in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, an event for which the world’s track riders and would-be Olympians are competing to qualify right now in London, England. As the days tick down to race time, those athletes, no doubt, are getting more and more ready by the day—especially as the Rio 2016 test event in April nears.

Unfortunately, getting the Rio Olympic velodrome itself ready by April, UCI officials said, will be a “challenge.”

Brian Cookson, president of the global cycling body, addressed the matter at the London track world championships, the Associated Press reports. The Olympics, he said, won’t be a problem. Getting the track in race condition by the scheduled April 29 roll-out, though, is something causing a bit of concern.

“We are assured by the Rio organizing committee that the dates 29th April to 1st of May will still be deliverable,” Cookson told reporters at the London event, “but I think that’s a challenge. I understand that the contractors are on site now with timber and everything ready to roll. They might have started in the last 24 hours.” The track, of course, is the most important part of the venue’s construction. Even a slight variation from accepted standards could spell disaster.

Cookson drew a bold line under those standards, expressing his concerns.

“You have to be assured when you’re putting in Siberian timber that the conditions in there are absolutely perfect,” he said. “The air conditioning needs to be in place and operational, the moisture control, the dampness needs to be under control because the last thing we want when the track is built is the timber going in and warping and bending.”

“I have no doubt there will be a velodrome ready and functional to the standards of the Olympic Games,” he emphasized. “The contingency plan is to have the Olympic Games in Rio and to have a track ready and finished. There is no alternative. That’s the straight answer.”

The 2016 summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro get underway on Aug. 5, 2016.