The venue master plan for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is slowly taking shape following the confirmation of the four locations for the Games’ cycling events.

Starting and finishing at the iconic Imperial Palace Garden, the Olympic road races and time trials will take place within Tokyo, taking riders around the city's famous streets and showcasing the capital's iconic backdrops.

Also taking place in the heart of the city will be the BMX events, which will be hosted at a 5,000-capacity purpose-built temporary facility in the Ariake district.

The track cycling events will take place at the Japan Cycle Sport Centre in Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture, approximately 120km from Tokyo. The existing velodrome there will undergo significant refurbishment and the seating capacity will be increased.

Izu will also host the mountain bike events. An existing course, adjacent to the velodrome, will be redesigned and renovated to meet Olympic race standards and will feature the spectacular Mount Fuji as a backdrop.

All four venues have now been approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s executive board, following close consultation between the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee (Tokyo2020).

Using existing and temporary venues for the cycling events is expected to result in savings of approximately JPY10bn (US$100m) from the revised Tokyo 2020 construction budget – bringing overall savings relating to construction costs to JPY180bn (US$1.8bn).

There have been pressures on Tokyo2020 to bring down the cost of hosting the Games. The cost-cutting has already resulted in the relaunch of the design competition for the main Olympic Stadium, after the Japanese prime minister scrapped Zaha Hadid's original winning proposals in July 2015.