Brescia Velodrome Construction Starts to Foster Local Cycling Talent
The «Provincia di Brescia» Velodrome will become a reality by December 2003. With great satisfaction for all cycling enthusiasts in Brescia, yesterday, a program agreement was signed during a ceremony in Broletto between the Provincia di Brescia and the Comune di Montichiari “for the construction and management of an outdoor velodrome for track cycling and associated facilities.” The €2 million necessary for its realization is provided by the Provincia di Brescia, while the Comune di Montichiari offers a developable area within its territory near the current Palageorge, on via Falcone.
Design and objectives
“We have been waiting for this moment for at least twenty years,” said Ugo Ranzetti, provincial president of CONI. “Many youth teams used to train outside the province; now they will be able to plan locally. We only hope it soon becomes an indoor velodrome, usable throughout the year.” The track will have a perimeter of 250 meters, “just the size needed for the Olympics or World Championships,” emphasized Giancarlo Ceruti, newly elected president of the Italian Cycling Federation. “And it is important that an entity like the Province invests in these sports facilities. This is a rare occurrence,” he added.
Then, Gianni Pozzani, provincial president of the Cycling Federation, recounted the historical process leading up to this event, hailed as “an important step toward nurturing more champions in Brescia,” and expressed hope that it will also serve as “a starting point for planning more bike paths in the province, sponsored by local administrations, to protect our youth from traffic dangers.”
Involvement of authorities and facilities
Words of satisfaction came naturally from the main figures involved in this “program agreement,” including Alberto Cavalli, president of the Provincia di Brescia, Alessandro Sala, his sports assessor, Gianantonio Rosa, mayor of Montichiari, and Gianmaria Pastorelli, sports assessor for the town of Montichiari in the lower Brescia area. President Cavalli opened the ceremony, greeting the numerous sports champions present, along with journalists and authorities interested in the project, such as sports associations, cycling clubs, the Prefect, and law enforcement agencies.
He then recalled the champions and competitions that positioned our province as the fourth in Italy in the number of cycling clubs and enthusiasts, hoping that “also the cycling clubs and the Federation will cooperate with the Comune di Montichiari for managing the velodrome.” The facility will be built near the future stadium for the C2 football league, in an area where the Palageorge has been regularly used for years by the Pallavolo di A1 volleyball team and, for several months, by the Basket di B2.
Thus, this area has rightly been dubbed “the sports citadel.” Managing it will require significant effort on the part of the Comune di Montichiari, which yesterday, through its mayor and Pastorelli, expressed the hope that all cycling clubs be involved in the project, since “the management service of the sports facility subject to this agreement could be entrusted to public and private entities, following appropriate legal procedures,” as stated in article 7 of the agreement.
Finally, Assessore provinciale Alessandro Sala expressed “pride in having fulfilled the promise made in the electoral program and in having many cycling champions in this room.” Among the first was world champion Felice Gimondi, who emphasized the importance of a velodrome to help grow many “small and big champions,” joined by Guido Bontempi, who congratulated all the event’s protagonists. The final snapshots show all speakers and legends like Bontempi, Bertoglio, Boifava, and others, while congratulatory telegrams came from Martinelli and Visentini.