The Medal Factory

Developed as a joint venture between Sports England, Manchester city council and British cycling as part of the Manchester Olympic bid, funded by Department of the Enviroment, the Sports Council and the Foundation for Sports and the Arts, who recognised the need for an Olympic-standard facility in the United Kingdom to improve British track cycling. it was opened on 14th September 1994.

The Velodrome was dismissed by some as a potential white elephant prior to opening.

But these concerns were unfounded, cited by Cycling weekly as the beating heart of British cycling’s ascension to the top of World Cycling, a catalyst for Britain’s successes in track cycling since 2002, More than 15 track cycling world records have been set on the track including Chris Boardman's 1996 and 2000 hour records and the 4000 metre team pursuit record set by the Great Britain men's team at the 2008 World Championships

It is claimed to be one of the busiest velodromes in the World, used by both professional cyclists and members of the public home to British cycling and the Great Britain cycling team. For 18 years from opening, it was the only indoor Olympic-standard track in the United Kingdom before the completion of the Lee Valley VeloPark for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

HSBC, British cycling and Manchester City Council announced that As British Cycling’s new lead partner, HSBC UK has made a huge commitment to us and the sport as a whole . “We are delighted that the home of British Cycling and the Great Britain cycling team and will now be known as the HSBC UK National Cycling Centre,” said British Cycling’s chief operating officer Jamie Obank.

The velodrome has hosted International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Cycling World Championships in 1996, 2000 and 2008, cycling at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002 The velodrome was also home to UCI ProTeam Ineos Grenadiers, formerly known as Team Sky between 2010 and 2019, a period when the team won 6 Tour de France, 2 Vuelta a Espana and 1 Giro d'Italia with Great Britain riders.

The centre of the velodrome has a 40m x 38m sprung wooden floor with courts marked out for 10 x Badminton, 2 x Basketball, 2 x Futsal, and 2 x Korfball.