Tokyo 2020 track cycling events moved from capital

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[December 09, 2015]  By Karolos Grohmann
 
 LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) - The Tokyo 2020 Olympics cycling track races and mountain bike competitions were moved to the Japan Cycle Sport Center some 120km from the capital on Wednesday after the International Olympic Committee confirmed the new venues.

The IOC Executive Board in Lausanne signed off on the finalised venue locations, saying it was "placing a focus on cost effectiveness, sustainability and legacy," and saving about $100 million in the process.

The road races and time trials will be held in Tokyo, starting and finishing at the Imperial Palace Garden while the BMX event will also be staged in the capital, in a temporary 5,000-seater facility in the city center.

The track cycling events, however, will be held at the Japan Cycle Sport Center in Izu, along with the mountain bike events that will use an existing course next to the velodrome.

"The course will feature the spectacular Mount Fuji as a backdrop," the IOC said.

"The athlete experience will be guaranteed, as all athletes and team officials whose events will be at Izu will have the option to stay in the main athletes' village before and after their competition.

"During the competitions, they will stay at a satellite village located close to the event venues."

The Tokyo Olympics are the first to benefit from a string of IOC reforms approved last year and aimed at making the Games more manageable and less costly.

Among the changes are staging competitions outside the host city if venues already exist somewhere else, lifting the burden on Olympic host of having to build new venues for each sport and reducing both the budget and construction work.

(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)

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