Sir Chris first in velodrome

OLYMPIC hero Sir Chris Hoy has completed the first lap of a velodrome named in his honour.

The new Freeman of Edinburgh visited Glasgow yesterday to see the facility, which has been built for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Along with the National Indoor Sports Arena, the velodrome officially opens on Friday, but six-time Olympic gold medal winner Sir Chris was allowed in early to try out the 250m timber track.

He said: “It’s just fantastic. It’s amazing to be here to finally see it in the flesh. I’ve seen lots of pictures of it and I was here a number of years ago when it was just a load of wasteland and to see the scale of it now is fantastic.

“It’s great fun to ride on, very smooth, very quick. So I think there’s going to be some great racing here.”