The velodrome race is Milton’s to lose.

Officials with the 2015 Pan Am Games confirmed in a news release on Thursday that the town of about 80,000 is their pick for the planned site of a permanent indoor cycling track.

But to seal the deal, Milton officials must sign a binding agreement by Jan. 24 promising to cover up to $21 million of velodrome building costs, according to the release.

Hamilton gave up its frontrunner status in the velodrome race in October after Pan Am officials rejected council’s $5 million offer towards a facility that could cost up to $45 million.

A late bid from Milton proposes to spend less than $5 million in taxpayer cash, but confirmed private sector contributions have already surpassed $7 million.

Milton hopes to build the velodrome alongside a planned “education village,” a proposed new satellite campus for Wilfrid Laurier University

The province has yet to give the green light for that development, however.

The Hamilton Spectator