| UCI 2007 in Palma |
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| Monday, 02 April 2007 | |
 From March 29th to April 1st, 2007, Palma de Mallorca was the host of the UCI World Championships 2007. The event took place in the Palma Arena, a multifunctional sports arena, focussed on cycling, which was only completed days before the event. 282 riders from 36 nations participated in this important cycling event with Great Britain clearly being the winner scoring 7 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals, followed by Australia and the Netherlands. Tickets for the event were almost entirely sold out and the event was broadcasted by many TV stations worldwide. Spectators who came on Saturday could even witness a new world record. Back in November 2005 the construction of the Palma Arena had started based on a design created by the reputable architect Ralph Schürmann from Münster, Germany. The earthworks at the actual location only started in December 2005. On April 1st, 2006, there still wasn't any real sign of what would be at the site only 12 months later. Around that time, the German architect and the Balearic principal broke off over "bureaucratic discrepancies"; what that was supposed to mean, remains an interesting question. However, the Dutch architect Sander Douma took over and some modifications to the design, particulary to the roof, were applied rapidly. Comparing the Schürmann website with the Douma one, you can still see their different concepts... Well, in July 2006, the site was "excavated" but still no real sign of the arena was visible. Only in October, the construction has made significant progress and on October 8th, most of the walls were completed as well as the structure that would hold the roof. However, it took until January 19th 2007, for the roof to be in place. Initially it was projected to host the Spanish Championships in the arena from February 8th to 10th, but that timeframe could not be met and they finally took place from March 2nd to 4th. In February 2007 there were at least 500 construction workers busy at the site and construction kept going 24 hours a day. In the end the arena was completed "on time" for the UCI championship and the official costs stood at 46.4m Euros. The premises had been "organized" by the Consell de Mallorca and financing for the arena itself had been provided by the Govern Balears and the Ayuntamiento de Palma. Today, Palma de Mallorca has one of the most modern "velodromes" with a footpoint of 16.000 square metres. The building itself is 140 metres long and 17 metres high. Some 3000 tonnes of steel and 30.000 cubic metres of concrete have been used for the construction of the arena, which offers 5.185 seats in the configuration for the UCI event. However, as the arena is a multi-purpose arena, the number of seats can be increased to 7.800. The track is 250 metres long and it has an inclination of 13 degrees on the straights that rises to 44 degrees in the curves. The wooden track is made of pine wood which some sources say that it comes from Russia, while others state that it is from Ukraine. Specialists from abroad attached the wooden pieces to the track section in February and Salvador Meliá, member of the Spanish cycling team, tested the tracked after that. On March 29th, 2007, the UCI championship could start without any delay.  View on the track inside the Palma Arena.        Yumari Gonzalez Valdiuieso concentrated just before the start of the Women's Points Race. She scored 5th.  The ladies in the Women's Points Race. Bates, Lacota, Cheatley and Guerrero Mendez were a lap ahead in the end.  Mexican Belem Guerrero Mendez resumed after a crash only few laps before the end, earning a lot of sympathy.  Theo Bos from the Netherlands with a stunning performance in the Men's Sprint Finals.  Upon securing the gold medal he picked up the Dutch Flag from his family.  Franco Marvulli and Bruno Risi winning the gold medal in the Men's Madison race just before the Dutch.  Anna Meares from Australia who set a new world record in the Women's 500m Time Trial on Saturday.  Chris Hoy from Great Britain with an amazing performance in the Men's 1km Time Trial.  Christ Hoy at full speed now, outperforming his competitors in almost every sector.  The last metres for Christ Hoy with an average speed of 59.017kph on the track.  The press and the happy winner who was actually the last one on the Start List for this race.  The pacemaker on his moto-bike during the Women's Keirin final.  The Spanish Commissaire firing the starting shots seemed somewhat befuddled at some points. Spanish supporters in the arena as well as members of the Spanish Press where enthusiastic, almost frenetic about the performance of their riders scoring a 6th place in the medal standings shared with the United States and the Czech Republic, each with a gold and a bronze medal. Still they should seem to forget that 19 Spanish riders participated, scoring two medals only. At the same time, Cuba showed up with two women only, scoring a gold and a silver medal and ranking 5th at the end of the event. It was a great event which will be held in Manchester next year again. With the British success this time, it will surely attract a lot of people then again. The future of the Palma Arena on the other hand remains somewhat uncertain. Whether it will be used for cycling, basketball or whatever other sports is not so clear these days. Hopefully it will be used in a way that will allow as many people as possible to share in on great sports events. .... Further in-depth information about the event can be obtained from the UCI website. |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 07 January 2008 ) |
