The Nerang Velodrome missed out on hosting Commonwealth Games cycling but the facility will be crucial to a 2032 Olympics bid

Patch up job after patch up job has kept the Nerang Velodrome humming along for years but if the Gold Coast is to play an extensive role in a 2032 Olympic bid, we need to start from scratch.

PATCH up jobs have kept the Nerang Velodrome humming along for years but if the Gold Coast is to play an extensive role in a 2032 Olympic bid, we need to start from scratch.

NERANG VELODROME’S STUNNING UPGRADE REVEALED

That is the view of some veteran Gold Coast riders who believes the flooding incident in January could have been avoided if action was taken before the 2018 Commonwealth Games to build a first-class facility on the Gold Coast.

Caitlin McCarty enjoying the revamped facilities at the Nerang velodrome. Photograph : Jason O'Brien

Brisbane beat the Gold Coast in the race for a new velodrome two years ago and subsequently the Sleeman Complex in Chandler hosted the Commonwealth Games track cycling competition at the newly constructed Anna Meares Velodrome.

While an hour south at the heart of the Games, the Nerang grandstand and amenities block was upgraded as part of the mountain biking competition.

CLUBS FACING ‘RUIN’ IF THEY RETURN TO PLAY

“That (Anna Meares Velodrome) is the cycling showpiece the Gold Coast should have had and a lot of people feel that way,” foundation Goldstars club president Rod Spence said.

“It would have been better to see an old outdated facility replaced rather than put a new one next to the pre-existing velodrome at Chandler.

“There are more competitive cyclists on the Gold Coast than in Brisbane and our facilities dictate the future of racing on the Gold Coast.”

Caitlin McCarty enjoying the revamped facilities at the Nerang velodrome. Photograph : Jason O'Brien

Before the floods in January, which tore sections of the track from its foundation and flooded club cages, the Gold Coast City Council had closed the criterium track to undertake major works to improve drainage and resurface the track.

Gold Coast Cycling Club president Dominique Verstreken said the club still wanted to lobby for a “full resurfacing of the criterium track” and hopes a facelift could see the facility take centre stage in an Olympic bid.

“There is talk of tying it in with an Olympic bid in 2032 and the Gold Coast facility would have to be at a world-class standard if we are to host an event of such magnitude,” he said.

“We’ve been talking to Minister for Sport Mick de Brenni and he’s well aware of that as a cyclist himself.

“It got to the stage where we wrote a wish list for Nerang and we were dreaming a bit with some of our requests but then COVID-19 hit and government priorities are elsewhere right now.”

VELODROME FLOODED: THE TRUE COST OF DAMAGE

Spence, a former national and multiple state track champion, believes the damage caused by January’s deluge should have been cause for a full facelift.

“When it washed away, we had the opportunity to totally rebuild it,” he said.