HALESOWEN Cycling Club chairman Dave Viner hopes bid bosses will hand his sport a massive boost if Birmingham's Commonwealth Games dream becomes a reality.

Birmingham edged even closer to hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games after being the only city to submit a bid before last Saturday's deadline.

It was thought that rival bids from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Victoria in Canada and a potential Australian entry would all come forward. However, they never materialised and Birmingham is now in the driving seat awaiting final approval form the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which is due later in the year.

The cost of staging the event is expected to be at least £750m - making it the most expensive sports event in Britain since London 2012.

Viner hopes a state-of-the-art indoor velodrome can now be built in the Midlands as part of the plans. It would be a development he thinks would benefit not just Halesowen Athletics and Cycling Club but also future of the sport in the region.

He said: "Having the Commonweath Games in Birmingham is a great opportunity to develop an indoor facility here.

"From our point of view, if the Midlands gets a new indoor facility we'd be keen to have riders come and use our track as they prepare and train.

"It would also be vital for the development of cycling. There are a lot of children in inner-city areas that don't have a cycling background and having an indoor velodrome would help them get involved in the sport.

"We are all about developing the grassroots of the sport at Halesowen, especially people like Jess Varnish and Helen Scott, but there comes a time when they need to move indoors to compete on the international stage. To be able to do that while staying in the region would be fantastic.

"If it didn't happen I think it would be a massive missed opportunity and a major blow for the development of track cycling in the Midlands.

"You have to ask what exactly the legacy of the games would be.

"Having the games come to Birmingham would be brilliant but we have to make sure we don't miss the chance to do the right thing for the sport."

A spokesperson for Birmingham 2022 said: "We have announced the majority of sports and venues for Birmingham 2022. There are still a couple of sports and venues we are yet to reveal and we will provide updates on these in the coming weeks."