The remaining countdown is underway for a recent sequence of the UCI Track Champions League, beginning this Saturday in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France with Britain’s Katie Archibald, New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews and Canadian Dylan Bibic three of the highest names hoping to resume their 2023 general victories.
“I can’t wait to get again on the monitor and attempt to defend my title from final yr. This season has had some ups and downs for me,” Archibald mentioned in a pre-series assertion.
“But this is a chance to finish it on a excessive. I need to race effectively and profit from the shape I’ve acquired – particularly in entrance of a house crowd on the Lee Valley velodrome.”
As Archibald mentioned, she has had a rollercoaster 2024 with two freak accidents up to now this yr, certainly one of which noticed her miss the Olympic Games due to falling and breaking her leg close to her residence, after which one other in the course of the London 3 Day sequence which left her with a dislocated shoulder.
In between, the Scot secured a big triumph within the Track World Championships with a staff pursuit gold medal, in addition to taking bronze within the Madison.
Other top-flight dash royalty within the five-round 2024 Track Champions League embody Dutch sprinter Harrie Lavreysen, winner of three gold medals within the 2024 Olympics, and his main dash rival Matthew Richardson, in what will likely be their first encounter because the Games.
While Lavreysen claimed an additional three golds within the World Championships, Richardson – additionally a triple Olympic medallist – needed to wait till his latest change of nationalities from Australia to Great Britain was accomplished earlier than returning to competitors. But he’s now raring to go once more within the Track Champions League.
“After a break after the Games, I used to be primarily in a position to practice so much to carry out in addition to attainable right here,” Richardson mentioned in a pre-league press convention, based on Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
“There are many challenges ready for me in my new state of affairs. I’m very curious to see the way it will end up. I’m particularly trying ahead to the competitions in London.”
Other star names throughout the dash and endurance occasions embody 2023 sequence runner-up Will Tidball (Great Britain), 2022 general winner Claudio Imhof (Switzerland), 2024 Track world champions Anna Morris and Emma Finucane (Great Britain) and 2024 Olympic double-gold medallist Andrews.
Racing within the five-round occasion begins Saturday, November 23 within the Vélodrome National of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, a venue which witnessed most of the battles for Olympic glory final summer time.
Every week later, Rounds 2 and three happen in one other acquainted World Championships situation at Apeldoorn velodrome within the Netherlands, earlier than the sequence heads onto the Lee Valley VeloPark in London for Round 4 and a sold-out remaining spherical in the identical Lee Valley VeloPark on the night of Saturday, December 7.
Split into Endurance and Sprint occasions with 36-strong fields in every class, each spherical of the Track Champions League options the identical race programme and provides factors in direction of a pacesetter’s jersey and, after all, general victory.
Each class has two various kinds of races during which opponents can accumulate factors: sprinters in each dash and keirin occasions, whereas endurance riders race each elimination and scratch. Overall battles for the 4 titles on supply have generally gone all the way down to the final occasion of your entire sequence in London.
The UCI Track Champions League will likely be accessible worldwide via WBD Sports’ in depth community together with Max, Eurosport and discovery+, in addition to a number of broadcast companions.
Track Champions League 2024 schedule
- Round 1 – Saturday, November 23, 17:00 CET at Velodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France
- Round 2 – Friday, November 29, 19:00 CET at Omnisport Apeldoorn, the Netherlands
- Round 3 – Saturday, November 30, 16:00 CET at Omnisport Apeldoorn, the Netherlands
- Round 4 – Friday, December 6, 20:00 CET at London, Lee Valley VeloPark, UK
- Round 5 -Saturday, December 7, 18:30 CET at London / Lee Valley VeloPark, UK
