Seating capacity increased at Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome after pre-sale sell out first event

By Tom Degun

August 19 - After a huge demand for tickets, the capacity of Glasgow's brand new Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome will be increased when it stages its first competition in November.

The venue, which will stage the track cycling competition at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, will be officially opened in October before it stages the second round of the 2012-2013 Track Cycling UCI World Cup presented by Samsung from November 16 until 18.

The 250-metre track, designed by Ralph Schüermann, has a permanent viewing capacity of 2,500 plus an additional 2,000 temporary seats.

The 2,000 temporary seats were not set to be used before the 2014 Commonwealth Games, but demand for the event following the Britain's success in cycling at the London 2012 Olympic Games has seen organisers increase the capacity to its full 4,500 to accommodate more fans.

"Our Saturday and Sunday allocation of pre-sale tickets has sold out," said the cycle sport marketing officer at British Cycling Paul Rowlands.

"It's the first time we've gone into a brand new velodrome after this level of success.

"We've delivered World Cups in Manchester over the years and gradually got to the stage where we're selling out, and that's been mirroring the growth of the success of the GB team on the track.

"But we're delighted with the response to the Glasgow event and are looking forward to how the public responds to the general sale on Tuesday (August 21)."

Sir Chris Hoy leads the field in the men's keirin track cycling at London 2012 

Although the line-up for the event has not yet been confirmed, over 200 of the world's best riders from over 30 nations will be competing in the UK for the first time since the Olympics – including British London 2012 gold medal winners Jason Kenny, Laura Trott and Dani King.

A minor blow to the event, however, is that Sir Chris Hoy himself will not be competing.

The 36-year-old revealed he is taking a short break after securing two London 2012 gold medals in the keirin and team sprint, making him the most successful British Olympian ever with an overall tally of six Olympic gold medals and a silver.

However, rumours are growing that Sir Chris will officially open the venue in October.

He will almost certainly compete there for Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games before retiring.

The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome forms part of the £113 million ($177 million/€144 million) Commonwealth Arena close to Celtic Park in the East End of Glasgow, and will soon become the headquarters of Sportscotland and Scottish Cycling.

The indoor arena adjacent to the Velodrome, which will host badminton at Glasgow 2014, will have 5,000 seats.

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