You can imagine the atmosphere back in this track’s heyday, riders and spectators taking shelter from the sun in the shade of the typically French pollarded Plane trees, maybe music, maybe wine, a festival atmosphere. We came across this track on a visit to L’Isle Jourdain near Toulouse for the Ravito Rouleaux Sprint.
Sadly this 333m track with long straights and tight turns is now too dangerous to race on, having been relegated to, it seems, a dog-walking track. What has caused this decline? well as you can see from the photos the element that gives this place it’s atmosphere, the trees. Their roots seem to be what have pushed up sections of the concrete surface.
All is not lost in this small town near Toulouse, the locals are lucky enough to have the fantastic Veloscope, a cycling museum /educational facility which contains what we believe to be the world’s only permanent minidrome.
