The gold rush to see Team GB's Olympics-winning cycling stars at the new Commonwealth Games velodrome turned into a stampede as the first batch of tickets sold out in less than two hours.
Thousands of tickets earmarked for members of British Cycling, the sport's governing body, were taken up, fuelling expectations of a similar frenzy to watch the likes of double London 2012 gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy when the rest go on general sale on Tuesday.
The success of the sale means the capacity of the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow will have to be extended by more than 4000 when the stars compete at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics in November.
Organisers had hoped to limit admission to 2500 spectators for each of the sessions on November 17 and 18. However, with only a few tickets left for the qualifying sessions on Friday November 16, they plan to bring the stadium up to its 2014 Games capacity by using its retractable seats.
British Cycling spokesman Paul Rowlands said: "Our Saturday and Sunday allocation of pre-sale tickets has sold out. It's the first time we've gone into a brand new velodrome after this level of success."
The World Cup will involve two sessions on the Friday, two the following day and one on Sunday, meaning 20,000 will get a chance to see the Team GB cyclists' first competitive outing since the Olympics.
Sir Chris, Britain's most decorated Olympian after his latest success in London, is among four gold medallists from the recent Games expected to compete under the British Cycling banner in Glasgow.
Fellow winners Jason Kenny, Laura Trott and Dani King are due at the prestigious competition, the venue's debut on the international cycling stage.
British Cycling still has to formalise who will be involved in Glasgow but it is thought six-times gold medal-winning Sir Chris will be involved in some way for the inaugural event.
Mr Rowlands added: "We've delivered World Cups in Manchester over the years and gradually got to the stage where we're selling out, and that's been mirroring the growth of the success of the GB team on the track.
"But we're delighted with the response to the Glasgow event and are looking forward to how the public responds to the general sale on Tuesday."
Chairman of Glasgow Life and head of the Commonwealth Games at Glasgow City Council, councillor Archie Graham, said: "We will be doing everything we can to make sure local people get the chance to see the world's top cyclists in action at the new Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.
"It is great to see so many people take the opportunity to buy tickets during the pre-sale, and that shows the level of excitement for track cycling.
"Anticipation is building as we look ahead to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and this will only increase as we host more and more international events."
The velodrome forms part of the £113 million Commonwealth Arena and will be one of the biggest indoor sports facilities of its type in Europe when it opens in early October.
Located on a 10.5 hectare site in the east end of Glasgow, close to Celtic Park and the Commonwealth Games Athletes' Village, the complex will be the principal new dedicated sports facility for the Glasgow 2014 Games.
l With the London 2012 Paralympics on course to sell the most tickets ever for the event, organisers have put 45,000 extra tickets on sale. These are in addition to the 20,000 already available for the opening and closing ceremonies. About 2.2 million have been sold so far.
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