Former Hour Record home and finish line of Giro di Lombardia will possibly see bikes again
The famed Vigorelli velodrome was closed years ago. In its place, American football has taken center stage – the brilliant cycling history that occurred within its walls, only a distant memory now.
That could be changing soon though. Tuttobiciweb reports that the talks of reviving the Vigorelli track in Milano have gone from words to a technical inspection.
The Vigorelli track, built in 1935, used to host the finish of the Giro di Lombardia. It was on that track that a large swathe of Fausto Coppi’s career was formed. He won each of his five Giros di Lombardia on that track, and lost several heartbreaking editions on it as well. Coppi also set the World Hour Record on the Vigorelli track, along with taking many individual pursuit honors. The Vigorelli track was home to all World Hour Record attempts from 1935 to 1962.
The Councillor for Sport and Recreation of the city of Milano, Alan Rizzi, was joined by engineers, representatives of the Italian Cycling Federation, and heads of RCS Sport, the organizers of Italy’s biggest races, to see if the historic monument might possibly return to action in the coming years.
The small group analyzed the current state of the building to see if recovery was monetarily and practically feasible.
The visit seems to have been at least a moderate success, as Tuttobici reports that the project’s next goals are to establish a work time frame that “includes all of the institutions involved with the objective to give Milano a multi-functional space where sports can be played, and in regards to cycling, a center for rider development.”