THOUSANDS of tickets for a major cycling event in Glasgow's new Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome were snapped up in less than 25 minutes.

Tickets for the UCI Track World Cup, which will feature Olympic cycle stars, went on sale at 11am. Before 11.30am more than 8000 had been snapped up, with heats on Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday sold out.

Only a handful of tickets remained for sale for the morning session on Friday, November 16 – and they were expected to sell out within hours.

Organisers had been reluctant to predict how many of the 10,000 tickets available to the general public would be sold.

The velodrome, which is part of the £116million Commonwealth Arena complex, is not due to open until early October and Glasgow has never before staged a track cycle event.

Paul Rowlands, of British Cycling, said: "The speed of the sell-out rivals the Olympic events at the velodrome in London. To get to the stage where all the key sessions sold out in less than one hour is very pleasing."

Mr Rowlands insisted the appetite for the cycling World Cup tickets would put Glasgow on the international sports map. He said: "The demand for World Cup tickets is a fantastic way to kick off the opening of the new velodrome. It is a great start for the venue."

The UCI Track World Cup Classics is a global three race series that sees the world's best cyclists competing for the points that will ultimately determine their international ranking, and qualification for the next Olympic Games.

Olympic gold medal cyclists Jason Kenny, Laura Trott and Dani King are expected to take to the track for the competition.

But Sir Chris Hoy, the most successful British Olympian of all time, with six gold medals, has said he will not compete in the Glasgow event, but he will be in the stands to cheer on Team GB.

vivienne.nicoll@ eveningtimes.co.uk