The city of Brno saw the very beginning  of closed-circuit cycling for the nation, when, in 1889, it hosted the first official bike race in the Czech Republic. The site which is now home to the Brno Velodrome, within the Brno Exhibition Center, has older roots; it originated as an earthen path built by the owner of the surrounding land and Brno entrepreneur, Viktor Bauer.
The legendary Bauer ramp, also known as Baurák, was one of the first banked tracks in Central Europe and remained intact until the fifties. It was then replaced with a clay surface and later by asphalt concrete, which proved faster and, in case of a fall, also slightly safer — after all, smoother surfaces are marginally less abrasive on exposed tissue.
Brno Velodrome soon became a cycling mecca and stands regularly sagged under the weight of thousands of visitors. As it gained traction, the idea of hosting a World Cup arose. The first took place back in 1969, the second in 1981.
Its fame and popularity also attracted track cyclist and Olympic gold medalist, Jiri Daler, who in the Tokyo 1964 finals defeated the favored Italian Giorgi Ursi. Daler, native Brňák, is a likeable, well-built, tanned Belmondo, who at almost eighty years old, rides daily (!) On a bike, you can meet him in the Velodrome.