The National Cycling Centre today celebrates its 30th anniversary, having been the training home to British Cycling’s Olympic and Paralympic medallists, world champions and national stars since 1994.
The National Cycling Centre (NCC) is the home of the governing body, and the facility has been a major catalyst for Britain’s cycling successes in a variety of disciplines, nurturing riders in track, road, BMX and mountain biking over the last three decades.
Not only the home of the Great Britain Cycling Team and training ground to some of the world's best riders - both past and present - from Sir Jason Kenny and Sir Chris Hoy to Emma Finucane and Bethany Shriever, it is a venue which is open to community grassroots beginner sessions, catering for all abilities and skillsets.
Plans for Britain's then first ever permanent indoor track were developed in 1992 – in the year of Chris Boardman’s gold medal success at the Barcelona Olympic Games - and from those origins, a world-class velodrome was built.
With a bid for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester acting as a stimulus for the project on the East Manchester site, the velodrome was built and hosted the track cycling at the home Games, and its legacy continues 30 years later. It has gone on to host multiple UCI events and is the home to the track national championships, with the next championships taking place in February 2025. Ticket are still available here.
The facility has continued to develop over the years with additional investment from Manchester City Council, Sport England and the European Regional Development Fund, enabling the NCC to build facilities to support the BMX and mountain bike disciplines.
In 2011, the £24 million BMX arena - a world-class facility for riders - was added to the site. Notably, it has the world's only fully electric eight rider indoor start gate which is a unique feature offered to riders in the country. The facility runs women and girls events, kids sessions, and accessible sessions for those with physical or learning disabilities. With a seating capacity of 1,800, it also hosts key domestic events, including an indoor round of the Lloyds Bank National BMX Series.
Additionally, close to the NCC, the Clayton Vale mountain bike trails and Skillszone are a fantastic 12km of urban mountain bike fun, which has routes for beginners through to the more experienced rider.
In connection with British Cycling’s commitment to environmental sustainability, the NCC carried out major upgrades to the venue to save 240 tonnes of carbon emissions from the site every year. In continued investment, the installation of solar car ports to provide 900 kWp of energy have also been added in recent times.
The NCC continues to serve the communities of Manchester far and wide with a truly world-class facility which is a key part of the sporting infrastructure in the city, pursuing innovation and development to bring the joy of cycling to all.
Jon Dutton OBE, British Cycling CEO added, “We are proud to call the National Cycling Centre and its fantastic range of international facilities our home. The centre has been a major catalyst for Britain’s cycling successes over the last 30 years, and not only that, what makes it a truly unique facility is that whilst being the home training venue to some of the world's best riders, it is also open to community grassroots beginner sessions, bringing the joy of cycling to all.
“It is a place that allows history to be made and continues to build our stars of the future, but it wouldn’t be what it is today without the amazing people that run the venue and deliver our sport. We celebrate the velodrome’s 30th birthday today and look forward to another 30 years of special memories.”
