PM promises new velodrome

And the facility is expected to lift the standard of cycling in the country in the near future.

The announcement was made by ex-national champion rider Roger Gibbon on Wednesday night.

Gibbon, president of the Beacon Insurance Company-sponsored West Indies vs the World Cycling Series, told cycling fans at the start of the around-the-savannah race in front TGI Friday’s, the new facility was promised by Prime Minister Patrick Manning.

He made the statement in the presence of the Prime Minister who was on hand to watch the opening of the 2006 edition of the annual cycling series, a 14-lap savannah ride.

Manning waved the checkered flag to set the cyclists off on the gruelling ride which was won by Argentine Sebastien Donadio.

Gibbon in a brief address said the influx of international cyclists are here to lift the standard of the sport in Trinidad and Tobago.

He urged cyclists from England in particular, to be at their best during the current series or they face the possibility of what the Trinidad and Tobago Soca Warriors plan to inflict on their countrymen at World Cup Germany 2006.

Only recently Caryl Kellar, an executive officer at the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs hinted at a $20 million cycledrome to be built at the Foreshore, Mucurapo.

Cycling in Trinidad and Tobago is currently contested at few venues— the Arima Municipal Stadium and Skinner Park, San Fernando. The cyclists have lost the use of the Queen’s Park Oval which is being refurbished to host matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.

Cycling is also contested on the roadway around the Savannah and King George V Park.