DOMOTEX TECHNOLOGY
The capacity crowds that witnessed last Summer’s Women’s World Cup Finals would have known little of the way natural and artifi cial grass had been blended, cut to Fifa guidelines, rolled by hand and, for the fi rst time in the competition’s history, hidden under giant pitch covers. They’d know little either of the needle-punched polypropylene or polymeric rubber or even the shock-absorbing preformed rubber underlays of world-class athletics tracks. awaiting riders at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome this August when cycling stages its own international competition, the Paris 2024 Games. Set among the limestone plains and Seine tributaries of the Paris Basin, it has become the fl agship of the French Cycling Federation, whose headquarters have been based there since it was built in 2014. It’s an outstanding venue which has also become a hub for athletes training for other sports. But it’s the track that holds the key to its success within the sport itself. For its surface architects chose Siberian Pine, a species arborists know as one of the most majestic, pharmacists value for its decongestant properties and perfumiers for its crisp, natural aroma. But for those competing on meticulously engineered tyres designed to
cope with crushing levels of downforce and air resistance, they expect a surface to match, which means a surface that, similarly, demands meticulous upkeep. This means daily checks on temperature and humidity of the hall before events and, afterwards, correct adjustment of the wedges between the fl ooring and the retaining beams that support the track are correctly adjusted. These can easily move as the wood dries and the track vibrates. If
a cyclist falls, the wood can splinter which means it then has to be sanded immediately ahead of any longer-term repair or replacement. A perfectly smooth surface is vital, given the distance travelled by athletes who crash - they tend to slide easily in their aerodynamic suits and the risk of friction burn injuries. While the surface technology is changing and improving all the time, the concept is nothing new.
In
fact, perhaps fi ttingly, it was the French who were early adopters of the bicycle back in the 1850s, although it was the UK that was fi rst to
IF THE ACTION IS CONFINED TO A SMALLER AREA, THIS
see their competitive potential and began to develop indoor wooden tracks 20 years later. The fi rst six day race was held in
GENERATES A MORE INTIMATE ATMOSPHERE. IN ADDITION, SMALLER TRACKS ARE CHEAPER AND EASIER TO INSTALL
Schuerman Architects | Munster BACK TO CONTENTS DOMOTEX MAGAZINE
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London in 1878 but it was in Chicago that the fi rst World Championships were hosted in 1893. The fi rst velodrome was built in the seaside resort of Brighton in the UK in 1877, oddly enough, by the British Army. Others followed, either purpose-built for cycling, or as part of facilities for other sports. Many were built around athletics tracks or other grounds and any banking was comparatively shallow. Refl ecting the lack of international standards at the time, sizes were not uniform and not all were oval. In fact, the Brighton one is 579 m long and features four straights linked by banked curves. Standards arrived when the sport was adopted as part of the Olympic Games with the norm comprising two-straight oval tracks. Lap lengths also reduced over time. The Velodrome de Vincennes, fi rst
9 m long
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