This Saturday (26th November) the world-class cyclists competing in the UCI Track Champions League will travel to the Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines for the very first time, for Round 3 of this innovative track series.
Round 2 in Berlin served up some breathtaking action, with two changes at the top of the overall leaderboards and several rivalries deepening. Martha Bayona (Colombia) now heads the Women’s Sprint League after her super-consistent performances over the opening two rounds. Canada’s Mathias Guillemette meanwhile, moved top of the Men’s Endurance standings after following up his triumphant start in Mallorca with two top-six finishes in the German capital.
Things remain unchanged in first place of the Men’s Sprint and Women’s Endurance Leagues though, with reigning champion Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) and newcomer Jennifer Valente (USA) both sitting pretty at the top of those respective standings.
Four French riders – Mathilde Gros, Taky Marie-Divine Kouame, Ryan Helal and Tom Derache – will also be in action and looking to put on a show in front of their home crowd.
After withdrawing during the competition in Berlin due to illness, Lea Friedrich (Germany) has been advised by the doctor to rest and will miss Round 3 in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Coaching and medical staff will monitor her health over the next week to make an assessment if Friedrich is able to compete in London.
Click HERE to read about how Round 2 of the UCI Track Champions League played out.
Here is all the key information heading into Round 3:
RIDERS TO WATCH
Katie Archibald (Great Britain) – Following an unsettled start in Mallorca, where she won the Scratch but was first rider out in the Elimination, Archibald came into Round 2 seeking revenge. With two wins in two races in Berlin, she is now right back in contention in the Women’s Endurance League, sitting just six points behind current leader Jennifer Valente (USA) in second place. The British rider will be looking to continue her winning run in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
Mathilde Gros (France) – Gros will hope to be on top form again this Saturday, especially with her home crowd roaring her on. The reigning UCI World Sprint Champion is currently sitting in third place overall, just three points behind current leader Martha Bayona (Colombia), and if she claims a third consecutive win in the Sprint event, she could put even more pressure on her closest rivals.
Matthew Richardson (Australia) – There’s a new, gripping rivalry forming in the Men’s Sprint League, with Richardson proving more than a match for current blue jersey holder Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands). Richardson has won both Sprint events so far, with Lavreysen winning both Keirins, and with just two points between them heading into Round 3, it’s going to be all to play for once again in France.
Dylan Bibic (Canada) – The 19-year-old wonderkid crashed out of the Scratch in Berlin, but battled back in the Elimination race, taking his victory in dominant style. With that win in the bag, it’ll be interesting to see if the newly crowned UCI World Scratch Champion can continue his winning ways in Round 3, and fire himself into contention in the Mens’ Endurance competition.
Click HERE for the full list of riders who will be competing in the 2022 UCI Track Champions League.
Men’s Sprint leader Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) said: “I’m really looking forward to racing at the Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines on Saturday. My first elite race took place there at the 2016 UEC European Track Championships, and I also won two gold medals there at this year’s Tissot UCI Track World Championships, so I have many happy memories.
“I was really happy with the racing in Berlin last Saturday, and I’m looking forward to Round 3. I hope to win the Sprint this time because Matthew Richardson has beaten me in the previous two rounds, and it’s always nice to compete against him.”
Women’s Sprint leader Martha Bayona (Colombia) said: “Although I prepared very well for this year’s UCI Track Champions League, I never expected to be leading the Sprint league after Round 2. When someone came over and told me I was leading, it was a really happy moment for me.
“I will try my best to keep the leader’s blue jersey until the end, and I hope this beautiful story will continue with more good news as we head into Round 3 at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.”
Men’s Endurance leader Mathias Guillemette (Canada) said: “The UCI Track Champions League series has been great so far. The racing is fun, there are more spectators than I’m used to, and I love it.
“Going into Round 3, I’ll feel a bit of pressure wearing the blue jersey, so we’ll see how it goes. For both the Elimination and Scratch races, I’ll ride the same as I always do, and just try to defend my lead heading into London.”
Women’s Endurance leader Jennifer Valente (USA) said: “I’m certainly going to stick to the plan in Round 3, keeping it consistent across both the Scratch and Elimination races. I’m going to ride each event as if it’s an individual race and do the best I can.
“Overall, we’re having fun and racing well, and Round 3 will be great. Katie Archibald is looking super strong but I’m still watching all the other riders as well. There’s a lot of opportunities to gain and lose points, so you can’t really be watching just one person.”
Francois Ribeiro, Head of Discovery Sports Events, said: “Given the atmosphere we saw during the recent Tissot UCI Track World Championships – and having four French riders in action – we can expect the support in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines to be on another level.
“The series is also brilliantly poised across every competition heading into Round 3, and we’ve got some great rivalries also forming, so I’m sure the action is going to be as intense as ever and I’m really looking forward to another great night of competition.”
RACE PROGRAMME
The televised race schedule is as follows:
18:55 CET: Live broadcast starts
Sprint / Men / First Round
Keirin / Women / First Round
Scratch / Women
Sprint / Men / Semi Finals
Keirin / Women / Final
Scratch / Men
Sprint / Men / Final
Sprint / Women / First Round
Elimination / Women
Keirin / Men / First Round
Sprint / Women / Semi-Finals
Elimination / Men
Keirin / Men / Final
Sprint / Women / Final
22:20 CET: Live broadcast ends
WHERE TO WATCH
Every round of the UCI Track Champions league is broadcast live on discovery+*, GCN+ (globally), the Eurosport App, as well as on Eurosport 1. Saturday’s coverage starts from 18:30 CET with a 30-minute preview show. Live coverage is then broadcast between 19:00-22:00 CET and is followed by a 30-minute post-race show featuring highlights and expert analysis.
The action will also be broadcast across the globe on the following 15 channels:
France TV (France), CBC (Canada), Claro (LATAM), ERT (Greece), Speed Channel (Japan), RAI (Italy), RTBF (Belgium), RTL7 (Netherlands), RTVE / Teledeporte (Spain), SBS (Australia), SRG (Switzerland), SuperSport (Africa Sub-Sahara), Zhibo.tv (China), Match TV (Russia), Señal Colombia (Colombia).
Highlights will also be broadcast on Quest (UK), Kanal 9 (Sweden), 6’eren (Denmark), Max (Norway) and Kutonen (Finland).
LIVE DATA AND EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE FOR THE FANS ONLY AVAILABLE ON THE OFFICIAL APP POWERED BY AWS
After a successful launch for the first season, fans are back on track in 2022 thanks to the official UCI Track Champions League app, powered by AWS. During every round, a whole host of real-time telemetry data from the riders’ performances – power, speed, heart rate and cadence – will be available at the click of a button. If all that wasn’t enough, a brand-new feature for this year allows users to access live onboard camera feeds to follow the riders even closer during the competition and enjoy an even deeper immersive experience.
Fans can also take an in-depth look at the riders’ average and maximum data, comparing between different riders as they do so, and push the ‘Feel Heartbeat’ button, which allows them to feel the live heartbeat of any given athlete at any moment in their hand using their smartphone’s vibrate function.
Finally, users can also ensure they never miss a moment of the fast-paced racing action courtesy of push notification reminders delivered when their favorite rider is on track, or when a particular race is about to start.
The official UCI Track Champions League app is available to download for free on the App Store or the Google Play Store.
ABOUT VÉLODROME DE SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES
The Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines is another new edition to the UCI Track Champions League. Originally pencilled in to feature in the 2021 season, the racing never made it to the venue due to it being converted into a mass COVID-19 vaccination centre.
Located 25 kilometres outside of Paris, this multi-purpose sports venue has a capacity of 6,000 and was inaugurated in 2014, hosting the 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, and the 2022 Tissot UCI Track World Championships earlier this year.
The track itself has been specially built to be one of the fastest in the world, enabling cyclists to reach speeds up to 85km/h. It was designed by architect Ralph Schürmann, a key figure in the field and who has also designed the tracks at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and at the headquarters of the UCI in Aigle, Switzerland.
The velodrome also will be the track cycling venue for the Olympic Games in 2024.
THE SPORTING FORMAT
The UCI Track Champions League is a league format where every round features the same race programme. Riders score points across the five rounds in either the Sprint or Endurance category.
Each category has two different types of races in which competitors can accumulate points: Sprinters will race in both Sprint and Keirin while Endurance riders will race both Elimination and Scratch.
18 riders can take part in each category, totalling 72 riders — equal numbers male and female.
The Sprint Category races:
Sprint: The Sprint race will see the first rider to cross the finish line after three laps of the track win. The first round will comprise six heats of three riders going head-to-head, with the six winners progressing on to the semifinals. Two heats of three riders will then determine the final two competitors to go for the win.
Keirin: The Keirin race is a massed start sprint over five laps. The first two laps of the track will be behind a Derny motorcycle to set the pace, leaving riders to sprint to the finish over the remaining three. Six riders will take part in three heats, with the top two riders qualifying for the final. In the final, six riders will compete for victory.
The Endurance category races:
Elimination: In the Elimination race the last rider across the finish line in every other lap will be eliminated from the race. The first lap will be a neutral lap and all 18 riders take part from the off.
Scratch: The classic Scratch race will be contested over a relatively short distance of 5 km to see the high-speed action start from the gun. All 18 will be vying for a podium position over 20 laps of the 250m track.
POINTS AND RIDERS RANKINGS
Rankings within the UCI Track Champions League will be determined by points allocated to riders from their performance in each race. Points will accrue in a ranking table and the overall winner in each of the categories will be the rider with the most points at the end of the series.
At the end of each round the current leader will be awarded the UCI Track Champions League leader’s jersey to wear at the next round.
REMAINING RACE CALENDAR:
Round 3: Saturday 26 November, 19:00 CET, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines / Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France
Information here
Round 4: Friday 2 December, 20:00 CET, London / Lee Valley VeloPark, UK
Information here
Round 5: Saturday 3 December, 20:00 CET, London / Lee Valley VeloPark, UK
Information here
You can also buy tickets for the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and London rounds NOW.
