Race for the ultimate prize

By May, Hawke's Bay could be confirmed as the hub of all things cycling in New Zealand.
The region's bid to build a new indoor velodrome and Centre for Cycling Excellence was submitted to Sparc yesterday, after months of planning.
It's up against proposals from Auckland, Waikato-Bay of Plenty, Taupo, Wanganui, Palmerston North and Christchurch, all scrambling to claim cycling capital status.
At stake is $7 million in government funding, a world-class sports facility, becoming the permanent home of Bike NZ, and an economic spin-off estimated in the millions.
But it won't come cheap.
Hawke's Bay ratepayers are being asked to pay for half of the proposed $21m facility, with the rest to come from the government, corporate sponsors and charitable trusts.
That's a significant rise from just six months ago, when Hastings councillors backed a $1.79m contribution to a velodrome then budgeted at $15.9m.
But in October, when Sparc released its request for proposal, the goalposts shifted.
Bidders were asked to plan for an Olympic and world championship-standard velodrome - with an Olympic-sized price tag.
Sports Park chairman Lawrence Yule said even then, the full impact wasn't apparent for another three months.
"We weren't aware until about Christmas that the costs were going to be over $20m," he said.
"That's when we had to choose whether we proceeded or we didn't."
Hawke's Bay stayed in the running, but without a fully-compliant bid, which would have cost in excess of $27m.
Permanent seating for 4500 and full air conditioning have been left out, but the velodrome has been designed so extra temporary seats and air con could be added later.
But what Hawke's Bay can offer is low risk: the plan submitted yesterday has resource consent, full funding and could be built by the end of next year.
"We can build it, we can fund it and it's fully consented," Mr Yule said.
"But if they want 4500 seats on a permanent basis, we're not in the game."
OF the other bids submitted yesterday, most were expected to propose a higher-cost, higher-spec velodrome.
It's understood Auckland proposed a $30m facility at Trusts Stadium in Waitakere. The council would put in $10m, leaving $13m to raise after government funding.
Wanganui were expected to propose a $27.3m velodrome, with council paying $14m through loan funding.
Waikato-Bay of Plenty's bid will see a velodrome built in conjunction with St Peter's school near Cambridge, while Taupo has proposed a centre at Owen Delaney Park.
Palmerston North's bid will see an on-campus facility linking with Massey University's sports science programme.
Christchurch also submitted a bid, with a proposal reportedly including $10m of council funding.
All will have pitched themselves as the natural home of cycling.
Hawke's Bay makes this claim too, pointing to a mix of flat and hilly road-cycling, favourable weather, good mountain-biking tracks and strong participation at a community level - local club the Ramblers is the country's second-biggest.
"Even though we may have a lower cost bid, the other benefits, in our view, add up to a compelling case," Mr Yule said.
There's also considerable investment in cycling already, with rotary pathways, the new $2.6m Water Trail cycling track north of Napier and the $6m push to encourage everyday cycling and walking in Hastings through the iWay project.
And that's important, because Sparc has asked for much more than just a cycling track.
The world-class, high-speed indoor velodrome should have access to quality training tracks and terrains for road, BMX and mountain biking.
The centre itself will include sports science, gym, medical and physiotherapy facilities, and house Bike NZ's headquarters, with offices for 50 staff.
A memorandum of understanding has been signed between EIT and Auckland University of Technology to work together on a sports science initiative here, Mr Yule said. "AUT is known, in our view, as being the best, so we think that's quite a coup."
Other factors Sparc will consider include the strength of the business model, including funding, governance and sustainability, access to an international airport and the region's population base.
And they're looking for evidence of a strong local cycling community to show the facility will be used by the wider public. That's where Hawke's Bay's Black White, Let's Bike campaign has been focused, clocking up more than 600,000 "virtual laps" of the velodrome to show public enthusiasm for the project.
THERE'S good reason for grass-roots support - if the velodrome is built here, the benefit won't just be for cyclists.
Its use will be largely at a community level, with 25 per cent reserved for elite cyclists.
In the first five years the velodrome is expected to bring an extra 41,000 visitor nights to the region, a cash injection of $4.6m.
Relocating Bike NZ's 50 staff is expected to generate an extra $3.3m in GDP over five years, while the construction of the velodrome itself will be a one-off $16m boost to the local economy.
Projections show the velodrome is expected to start running a surplus after its second year, while it's expected to push the overall sports park figures into the black by year five.
Building the cycling track has always been part of the plan for the sports park, and Hastings deputy mayor Cynthia Bowers said that's one of the reasons why Hawke's Bay is a natural choice for the cycling centre.
"Hastings initiated the idea of a second New Zealand indoor velodrome and it has always been part of the master plan for the sports park," she said.
"This is not simply an add-on, or last-minute decision to have a tilt at a passing opportunity.
"We are already the cycling capital of New Zealand and the natural choice for a Cycling Centre of Excellence."
We'll know by May whether officials at Sparc agree.