OLYMPIC cycling glory would have been impossible without key investment in the sport, triple gold medal winner Chris Hoy said today.

Speaking as he unveiled the blueprint for an £80 million Velo Park at the heart of the Olympic site in east London, the champion defended the 2012 Games against criticism that they would cost too much and pointed to the investment in the Manchester facilities which enabled him to race to gold.

"Becoming Olympic champion simply wouldn't have been possible without cycling facilities, ie when I was growing up," he said.

"It's fantastic. The success that the British cycling team has had up until now has been purely because of the money arriving in Manchester.

"You just have to look at the feelings of the public and the general excitement about the Olympic Games. It's impossible to put a price on that.

"You have to invest in sport and you have to put money into it but you also get the whole lot back.

"You can't put a cost on the elevation the nations seem to feel. It's very exciting."

The Velo park plans were unveiled the day after British paralympic cyclists celebrated their first gold medals.

Hoy said that the team could look forward to great success.

"We trained together as a team in Manchester so it's great to think they're doing well.

"I think they're going to outdo us and come home with more gold medals than we did because they're so strong."

The Velo Park, which will be based in the north of the Olympic Park, will include a 6,000-seat velodrome to host the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic indoor cycling event.

It will also feature a BMX circuit for the Olympics in 2012 and for the public to use after the Games.

There will also be a mountain bike course and a road cycle circuit and training facilities for Londoners to enjoy when the Games are over.

London's Mayor Boris Johnson said the new facilities would be "a cycle paradise".

"I think it's going to be spectacular," he said.

"It will be the kind of thing we've never had before. It will be a cycling mecca where anyone can come and discover the joys of cycling.

"I'm a very, very keen cyclist and I have always longed to get into one of these velodromes and see what they're like. I want to go faster and faster and faster around the bowl of death.

"This will be a good thing for London and something London will benefit from."

Mr Johnson also defended the cost of the Games, saying the legacy could already be seen in east London.

"The legacy is already going on," he said.

"It's a great thing to have in this part of London. We're in the middle of what used to be an industrial wasteland.

"It's going to be regenerated. Londoners will see that these facilities will be there more or less into perpetuity for their benefit."

A committed cyclist himself, Mr Johnson added that meeting Chris Hoy at the unveiling of the plans was "very humbling".

"The guy is God-gifted," he said.