PREVIEW: UCI TRACK CHAMPIONS LEAGUE RETURNS TO MALLORCA TO KICK OFF SEASON TWO

The second season of the UCI Track Champions League gets under way in Mallorca tomorrow (Saturday 12 November). 72 of the world’s best track cyclists, with no-less than 28 Olympic medals and 60 UCI Track World Championships titles between them, will go head to head at the Velòdrom Illes Balears. Here is all the key…

Katie Archibald (Great Britain) – This four-time UCI World Champion and two-time Olympic gold medallist won five of the eight Women’s Endurance races last season, ensuring she finished the 2021 series on the top step of the podium, and she’ll definitely be one of the riders to beat this time around.

Lea Friedrich (Germany) – With good friend and compatriot Emma Hinze missing the series through fatigue, Friedrich will be looking to step into the breach and challenge for top honors in the Women’s Sprint category. She won two races last season, helping her to second place in the standings, and confidence will be high after she won two Tissot UCI Track World Championships titles in Paris last month, including a rainbow jersey in the Keirin event which also features in the UCI Track Champions League.

Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands) – Hoogland is one of the greatest riders of his generation, having won seven UCI Track World Championships titles and an Olympic gold medal, and he’ll be looking to make amends after being forced to abandon the Men’s Sprint competition after just two rounds last season on account of COVID.

Dame Laura Kenny (Great Britain) – One of 39 riders to be making their UCI Track Champions League debuts, Kenny will be looking to add the Women’s Endurance title to her glittering list of achievements which includes seven UCI Track World Championships wins and five Olympic gold medals.

Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) – The defending Men’s Sprint champion looks as dominant as ever heading into Round 1. He claimed two Tissot UCI Track World Championships wins in Paris last month, taking his tally of senior rainbow jerseys to 11 and will be keen to start the 2022 series as he means to go on.

Sebastián Mora (Spain) – Mora might feel he has a point to prove in Mallorca after failing to win on home turf in 2021. The 34 year old made up for it with back-to-back victories in Lithuania, and will be looking to go one better than the second place overall he secured in the Men’s Endurance competition last season.

Click HERE for the full list of 72 riders who will be competing in the 2022 UCI Track Champions League.

Defending Men’s Sprint champion Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) said: “I’m really looking forward to the first round of the UCI Track Champions League. Last year Palma, with its full crowd, was great and I hope it’ll be full again this time around. I’ve had a good rest and am feeling prepared after the Tissot UCI Track World Championships, and I believe I am ready for the races.”

Defending Women’s Endurance champion Katie Archibald (Great Britain), said: “I’m really excited for the 2022 UCI Track Champions League. The field is as competitive as ever with Jennifer Valente the Olympic Omnium champion from the USA, Rachele Barbieri, the European Omnium champion from Italy and Great Britain’s superstar Dame Laura Kenny, a five-time Olympic champion. The challenge is to see if I can get on par with these incredible riders.”

Sebastian Mora (Spain) said: “I’m really looking forward to the start of the new season and expectations here in Mallorca are definitely high. A lot of people from the island, and from the Spanish mainland, have been encouraged to come to the Velòdrom Illes Balears to experience this great event.

“The level has risen this year, both in terms of the riders competing, and the way the series is organized. It’s going to be amazing and I am very excited to be a part of it.

In terms of the race format, the Scratch and Elimination are two very different races and we will have to see how they go. I want to really encourage people to come and watch and I’m sure it will be a great day.”

AMBASSADOR QUOTES

Sir Chris Hoy, UCI Track Champions League Ambassador, said: “Season two looks even stronger than last year. Even off the back of an Olympic year, riders are willing to get involved, and that speaks volumes. I think it’s going to be really exciting to see how the newer riders adapt to the competition format. It’s a different style of racing, very short and sharp, and there’s no easing in. You’ve really got to be on your ‘A-game’ in every single round.

“The UCI Track Champions League also feels like an established series that’s been going on for years already, but it’s only the second year. This season there’s numerous UCI World Champions and numerous gold medalists in the line-up, it’s gone to another level and it’s going to be fierce.”

RACE PROGRAMME

The televised race schedule is as follows:

18:55 CET: Live broadcast starts

Sprint / Women / First Round
Keirin / Men / First Round
Scratch / Men
Sprint / Women / Semi Finals
Keirin / Men / Final
Scratch / Women
Sprint / Women / Final
Sprint / Men / First Round
Elimination / Men
Keirin / Women / First Round
Sprint / Men / Semi-Finals
Elimination / Women
Keirin / Women / Final
Sprint / Men / 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 13 channels:
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

After a successful launch for the first season, fans are back on track thanks to the UCI Track Champions League official app. 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 THE VELÒDROM ILLES BALEARS

Located in the city of Palma, in Mallorca, the Velòdrom Illes Balears is one of Europe’s flagship velodromes with a capacity of 6,000. The track is 250m long and 7m wide with 43-degree corners and a 15 degree banking on its straights.

It opened its doors in 2007 and was first used to host the UCI World Track Championships, that same year. Since then, the track has become a staple for local and foreign cyclists alike, who regularly use it for racing and training.

The venue forms part of the Palma Arena, a world-class multisport pavilion. Due to its size, versatility and top-of-the-range facilities, it hosts a wide range of sports, leisure and cultural activities.

The island of Mallorca attracts thousands of cyclists to its roads every year and enjoys a strong cycling heritage, making Palma the perfect host for Round 1.

The UCI Track Champions League also started here last year, and you can read the report from that night, HERE.

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, totaling 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 blue leader’s jersey to wear at the next round.

RACE CALENDAR: