Mayor Dave Cieslewicz has hoisted a Chicago Olympics 2016 flag in front of the Municipal Building.

And we salute it.

The Windy City is very much in the running to host the 2016 summer games. If the International Olympic Committee decides Friday to award the games to Chicago, Madison will be a winner. That's because the Olympic cycling road race, time trials and mountain biking events would all take place in and around Madison.

All of Dane County would be in the limelight. Communities such as Cross Plains and Mount Horeb, where top riders from dozens of countries would race up and down the hills, would suddenly have places of honor on the map of the world.

As the mayor says, "It would be great. In fact, it'd be awesome. For one thing it would mean a boost to our economy. Madison is already a bike industry leader with about one in five American bicycles produced right here in our region. But with the Olympic brand behind us, it would put us on the world bike map. People from all over would come here just to ride the Olympic routes for years both before and after the event."

"And," the mayor correctly notes, securing a piece of the Olympics "would make our already strong application for high-speed rail linking us to Chicago and Milwaukee an absolute lock."

It is true that Wisconsinites are not always inclined to cheer on Chicago's sporting initiatives. But this is one time where Chicago's future and that of the Madison area are intricately linked.

So keep those fingers crossed. Friday could be the day when the next page of this region's rich history begins to be written.

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