Lara Gillespie is standing in front of a billboard-sized image of a cycling velodrome on the exact spot where construction is now ready to begin. Turning of first sods will always be ceremonious to some degree, only this will fill arguably the single biggest hole in the infrastructure of Irish sport.
“We’ve been patient,” says Gillespie, who won a world track title in October, despite the enduring lack of any velodrome in the country. “So yeah, we’ve been eagerly waiting for this. I think we were the only nation at the Paris Olympics last year without a home velodrome, it’s crazy to think we haven’t had it.”
Indeed it has been over a decade in planning, before in September, Sport Ireland received final approval for €100 million in funding for what will be the National Velodrome and Badminton Centre, set for completion in early 2028. The site is immediately adjacent to the Sport Ireland Indoor Arena at the Abbotstown campus, and will be kept busy from the get-go.
It will feature a raised 250-metre indoor cycling track, with 12 badminton courts contained within the infield area, along with seating for up to 1,000 spectators. It will also have the capacity to host international track cycling championship events, which can only help raise the profile of a world-class rider like Gillespie.
RM Block
The 24-year-old from Enniskerry in Wicklow became the first Irish woman to win a coveted rainbow jersey which goes to every world cycling champion, thanks to her victory in the elimination race at the UCI World Track Championships in Santiago, Chile in October.
Equally deft in road cycling, Gillespie also became only the third Irish cyclist to win a track world championships after Martyn Irvine in 2013, and Harry Reynolds all the way back in 1896. No wonder the lack of a velodrome has been such a sore point for so long.
“It is so essential for Irish cycling, especially with the weather we have,” she says. “They are extremely expensive, and it does need a lot of organisation to build, but it’s so worthwhile, as a training and competition centre for all riders.
“So it’s a huge, positive moment for the sport, and I think it will make a huge difference more from the ground up. Kids in primary school can come try the sport out, it becomes much more accessible, and people can actually see the sport. And I’m really excited for that.”
The joint venture between Cycling Ireland and Badminton Ireland will be the first large-scale project to be delivered under the Sport Ireland Masterplan. Designed by architects FaulknerBrowns, Walls Construction will begin the project in January, with an expected two-year completion date.
It should significantly enhance Ireland’s ability to compete in track cycling, where 12 Olympic medal events are contested, also providing an elite training base for Irish badminton, and further expanding participation.
Started out
When Gillespie started out in international cycling as a junior, she also had to learn all the different technicalities of track cycling as she went along. It didn’t take long, as she was European Junior Track champion in the points race 2018, before winning World Junior Championship bronze in the individual pursuit in 2019.
“It is so different,” says Gillespie. “Fixed gear, no brakes, and when you’re on the banking, you’re basically touching the velodrome. That’s how steep it is. If you’re looking up or down it’s scary, if you’re riding it for the first time.
“One of my first races was at the World Junior Championships, and I didn’t know how to ride a wooden indoor track, the speed or the technique, because you do have to learn so much. I was lucky I was still able to have a good experience.
“We are lucky to have a training centre in Mallorca, where Cycling Ireland have a high-performance base, but it will be so cool to have a high-performance base here.”
Sport Ireland chief executive Dr Una May believes the combined cycling-badminton facility “will also open new pathways for people of all ages and abilities to get involved”, and “we’re absolutely delighted to see the project move forward”.
Gillespie was also part of the first Irish women’s team pursuit team to compete at the Olympics, in Paris in 2024, where she and team-mate Alice Sharpe finished 11th in the madison, while Gillespie also claimed 10th place in the omnium race.
She came out earlier this year and won the European track gold also in the elimination race, her narrow victory in Santiago in October coming ahead of Britain’s two-time Olympic champion Katie Archibald.
Gillespie also made Irish cycling history by riding in the Tour de France Femmes in July, for UAE Team ADQ, claiming third in a sprint stage despite a spell of injury beforehand. Irish cycling coach Martin O’Loughlin played a key role in bringing her back to full fitness.
“The Tour was such a whirlwind, the energy and the whole atmosphere was spectacular, a really cool experience,“ she says. “I’d a few injuries coming in, but was able to get third in one of the sprint stages, which is a huge step up for me.”
Her visit to the new velodrome site on Wednesday afternoon was her first trip home since July, having been based in Germany for much of the season, her rainbow jersey from Santiago still in her suitcase.
“I haven’t really seen anyone here yet to celebrate the jersey, so looking forward to that now, then it’s back into another road season, and hopefully another track world championships again, in October.”
And soon, a home velodrome to train and race on, the one thing still lacking in Irish cycling.
