The 2024 UCI Track Champions League kicks off in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines

• The 2024 UCI Track Champions League will officially get underway tomorrow, Saturday 23 November. 
• Round 1, sponsored by CIC, will take place at the Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in France, kicking off five thrilling rounds of action. 
• Here is all the information you need to know heading into Round 1, including start lists, broadcast partners, the race programme and more. 

The fourth season of the UCI Track Champions League begins in France this Saturday, 23 November, kicking off five rounds of brilliant track racing action. The Vélodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines will host the world’s best track cyclists – including ten current UCI World Champions and six Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallists – in the opening round of the 2024 series. 

The athletes competing for glory throughout the 2024 season boast, in total, 14 Olympic titles between them (including five for Dutch star Harrie Lavreysen), 55 UCI World Champion rainbow jerseys (including 16 won by Lavreysen) and a whopping 200 Continental champion titles, 40 of which have been won by debutant Ebtissam Zayed. 

Etbissam Zayed becomes the first rider to represent Egypt in the history of the UCI Track Champions League, making her nation the 39th to be represented across four seasons of the event. 

Including Zayed, 30 newcomers to the UCI Track Champions League will participate for the first time, joining the 148 riders who have previously participated, to make a total of 178 competitors so far (2021-2024). 

The UCI Track Champions League is a truly international affair, with top riders from all over the globe taking to the start line this weekend in Paris. A total of 26 nations will be represented on the track. Great Britain is the best represented with 11 riders, followed by New Zealand and the Netherlands with six, Australia with five, and Colombia, France, and Ireland with four.  Switzerland will have three riders, and Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Mexico, Norway, Poland, and the USA will all field two athletes. The start list is completed by one rider each from Austria, Czechia, Egypt, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ukraine.

AWS and Infinite Reality remain the two official series partners of the UCI Track Champions League, but this season the series is also delighted to welcome on board several new partners and official suppliers.
 
 FACOM, a leading manufacturer of premium hand tools, partners with the UCI Track Champions League for the first time this season. For more information about this new partnership, and FACOM and its products,click here. The UCI Track Champions League’s commitment to peak performance and quality continues with partnerships with Mavic, the official wheels supplier, and 6D, the official nutrition supplier for UCI Track Champions League athletes.
  
 Round 1 of the UCI Track Champions League is sponsored by French bank and financial services group CIC (Crédit Industriel et Commercial) and rounds 2 and 3 in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, are proudly sponsored by BetCity.

WOMEN'S SPRINT

Ellesse Andrews (New Zealand)

Defending UCI Track Champions League Sprint champion Ellesse Andrews has had a stunning year, becoming a double Olympic champion in Paris this summer in the Individual Sprint and Keirin. Her two golds came at this very same velodrome, in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, so she has brilliant form on this track and will be looking to add a UCI Track Champions League title defence to her packed trophy cabinet. The 24-year-old also won a silver medal in the Team Sprint in Paris and won her first UCI World Championship title in the Keirin last year. 

Emma Finucane (Great Britain)

Fans can look forward to the next clash of titans as Ellesse Andrews and Emma Finucane continue their growing rivalry at the top of women’s sprinting. Emma Finucane won three medals at the Paris Olympics including gold in the Team Sprint, after breaking the UCI World record three times, and bronze in the Individual Sprint. Her sparkling form continued as she became a triple UCI World champion in Ballerup (Denmark) this autumn, defending her Sprint rainbow jersey and adding the Team Sprint title to her palmares too. She’ll be one of the favourites to add UCI Track Champions League glory to her list of wins in 2024.

MEN'S SPRINT

Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands)

A living track cycling legend with no less than 16 rainbow jerseys to his name, Harrie Lavreysen has secured a clean sweep of Olympic, UCI World and European Championships titles in the Sprint and Team Sprint this year. 

He also won European and Olympic gold in the Keirin, only missing out on a full house of Sprint titles thanks to an eighth place at the UCI World Championships in October. Harrie is also the most successful rider in UCI Track Champions League history to date. In 2021 he won five races on his way to the first-ever Men’s Sprint title, winning a further five in 2022 and a huge seven in 2023 as he reclaimed the trophy.

Matthew Richardson (Great Britain)

Matthew Richardson won five of the 10 races in the 2022 UCI Track Champions League, defeating Harrie Lavreysen to the Men’s Sprint title by two points after a monumental battle between the pair. This year the top step of the podium has largely eluded him, and he’ll be looking to get the better of Lavreysen once again. Matthew won three medals at the Paris Olympics this summer – two silvers and a bronze – and is also a former UCI World and Commonwealth Games champion. The 2024 UCI Track Champions League will be his first appearance in Great Britain colours after switching from representing Australia this summer. 

WOMEN'S ENDURANCE

Katie Archibald (Great Britain)

With an incredible 29 elite gold medals to her name including two Olympic, six UCI World Championships, 20 UEC European Championships and one Commonwealth Games title, Katie Archibald is the most decorated Endurance rider on this year’s roster. Katie thrives in the UCI Track Champions League, winning the first-ever Women’s Endurance title in 2021, bagging five race victories on her way to second place overall in 2022, and claiming overall glory once again last season. 

Anita Stenberg (Norway)

A three-time European gold medallist, Anita Stenberg took a bronze medal in the Omnium at the UCI Track World Championships last month, underlining her pedigree as a serious contender for UCI Track Champions League glory. She narrowly missed out on the podium in the 2022 edition, finishing fourth overall despite winning the Elimination race in Mallorca and claiming two top-three results in London. Last year, she finished second overall, securing four second place finishes and making the podium in every Elimination race. This could very well be the year she clinches the overall title.

MEN'S ENDURANCE

Dylan Bibic (Canada)

Still aged just 21, Dylan Bibic has already established himself as one of the finest Endurance riders in the sport. During his first season as an elite rider in 2022 he won a rainbow jersey in the Scratch Race at the UCI Track World Championships and followed that up in 2023 with a silver medal in the Elimination. An Elimination victory in Berlin at the UCI Track Champions League in 2022 was a stepping stone for winning the overall title last season, and he returns aiming for back-to-back overall victories.

Lindsay De Vylder (Belgium)

Lindsay De Vylder makes his debut into the 2024 UCI Track Champions League in blistering form, fresh off securing a first-ever rainbow jersey in the Omnium last month. The 29-year-old enjoyed a superb UCI Track World Championships, also claiming Madison silver alongside Fabio van den Bossche – upgrading their bronze medal in the same event in 2022 – and is also a former national champion and European silver medallist. 

During the press conferences featuring the top contenders of the 2024 season, here’s what the riders had to say:

Ellesse Andrews (New Zealand): “The UCI Track Champions League is a really exciting way to showcase track cycling, it’s such an awesome and adrenaline-filled sport so to be showcasing it in a way that really highlights that, with the show around it, is perfect. Lots of people love watching it all over the world so it’s cool to have a format that showcases what we’re all about.

“It feels like everything is a crazy dream, being back here [in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines] so soon after the Games. Racing on the track will be a whole other level of crazy, I’m really looking forward to this first round. Consistency across the League is super important, when you’re working with such small margins every little piece of time on the track matters. It’s about pushing to the line and making sure every race is raced to your absolute best.”

Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands): “It’s going to be a special one this year, there’s been a lot going on this summer. I had a little break after the World Championships and I’m looking forward to some fun races! I don’t want to focus too much on winning, I already had an amazing year and I just want to have fun. When I’m on the start line, I focus on winning but for now, I’m really relaxed. I’m still trying to ride on my Olympic form but it’s not really possible! 

“We had the European Championships in Apeldoorn and that had an amazing atmosphere. After that I worked together with the UCI & WBD Sports to bring the UCI Track Champions League home, and I’m really happy we’ve done that. It’s going to be the first time the UCI Track Champions League will be raced in front of a home crowd for me. I like to show people what track cycling can be and I think it’s going to be an amazing event.”

Emma Finucane (Great Britain): “I love racing the UCI Track Champions League, the last two years really helped me progress as a sprinter because you’re in the mix with all the best athletes in the world. The UCI Track Champions League is a place to learn, a place to have fun, it’s a completely different race format which I really enjoy. 

“I’m really excited to go back to Paris, it’s a different style of racing [to the Olympics] but the memories are still there. We’re taking the whole team sprint back to where we won, so it brings back a lot of memories. It’s a strong field and the first round is really important because it seeds you for the next round, so I’m really excited to get stuck in. I think it’ll be a really close competition.”

Matthew Richardson (Great Britain): “I was able to have a break after the [Olympic] Games to try to put myself in the best possible form for this. The UCI Track Champions League is a really good race, I’ve loved it every year that I’ve raced it and it’s another chance to race some of the best guys in the world. Everyone’s all guns blazing, everyone’s stepping up in the ranks, so it’s going to be really tough, as it is every year.

“I’m super excited to debut in Great Britain colours, London is really where it’s going to feel amazing. I’ve always had the most home support in the crowd there so this year, having the whole crowd behind me is going to feel super special. It’s going to be a bit of a pinch myself moment, how long I’ve wanted this for and now it’s actually happening.”

Katie Archibald (Great Britain): “I think what’s different about the UCI Track Champions League is the excitement it gives me for the longevity of our sport. Everything else that I do outside of the UCI Track Champions League has some hint of, ‘I want to go to the Olympics’. But this series stands by itself, it attracts the best in the world by itself, and it crowns a champion on those terms. That’s what I love about it. I have the same dream of making track cycling accessible to a wider audience, and I think what this League does really well is the narrative of a series.

“The sense of redemption that you get, racing back-to-back weekends, is really good. Both the prize money and the distances are the same for men and women, and that’s one of the really modern elements of the sport. It’s saying, this is an exciting sport, it’s exciting now, it’s exciting for the future, and that’s what we want to be part of.”

Dylan Bibic (Canada): “It means a lot to be back, winning it was probably one of my best results of my life. I look forward to it all year, I can’t wait to race it. It’s a nice vacation [in Europe] but a bit more stressful!

“Lindsay [De Vylder] is one of my biggest rivals - I think rivals can be a good thing, it makes us push to be the best. Omnium is the king and queen of endurance, and I think it’s the most competitive [season of the UCI Track Champions League] so far.”

Anita Stenberg (Norway): “It’s very exciting, you have to be very consistent, you have to perform well every time. That’s what’s also a bit stressful – if you fail in one race, it’s a really big fight to get back to the top. With back-to-back days you can see if some riders might fatigue more, and that affects the performance. It’s very exciting, everything keeps so fresh all the time. 

“For me, the most important thing is that I feel happy on my bike. If I feel happy on my bike and I’m ready to perform, I usually perform well. It’s always a goal to be top three, I haven’t really been able to beat Katie before so maybe this is the chance to do it! My goal is to win because I’ve never done that before – I would be over the moon to win. I’m going to gamble, take risks, and see where I come.”

Lindsey De Vylder (Belgium): “I’m really looking forward to it, especially because I just became UCI World Champion, but the scratch and elimination races are actually my worst [races]! I want to develop myself more as a rider and the UCI Track Champions League gives me the opportunity to fine-tune myself in those races.

“The scratch race is really tactical and the elimination you just have to try to find the feeling with it, to not waste too much energy. It’s my way to the Olympics, but it’s more than just a step up - it’s a competition I’m really looking forward to. My form is good, but I’m a little bit fatigued after Six Days of Ghent and I think I’ll be feeling it in Paris!”

The televised race schedule is as follows:

17:00 CEST: Live digital broadcast starts

• Sprint / Women / First Round
• Sprint / Men / First Round

  18:00 CEST: Live broadcast starts

•  Scratch / Women
• Sprint / Women / Semi Finals
• Sprint / Men / Semi Finals
• Scratch / Men
• Sprint / Women / Final
• Sprint / Men / Final
• Elimination / Women
• Keirin / Women / First Round
• Keirin / Men / First Round
• Elimination / Men
• Keirin / Women / Final
• Keirin / Men / Final

  21:00 CEST: Live broadcast ends

The 2024 UCI Track Champions League will be streamed across the globe via WBD Sports’ network including Max, Eurosport and discovery+, as well as a host of broadcast partners. 

The UCI Track Champions League will be available on enhanced streaming service Max for the first time, for viewers in the US, France, Poland, Scandinavia, Spain, Central and Eastern Europe, and on HBO Max for viewers in Belgium and the Netherlands. Max has something for everyone, combining HBO Max’s can’t-miss boxsets, Discovery’s real-life entertainment and Eurosport’s world-class sports, and will be the UCI Track Champions League new streaming home, broadening the series’ reach across the world. 

Viewers in Austria, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Ireland can stream all the action on discovery+, WBD Sports’ streaming service in those countries.

In addition to live coverage on WBD Sports' network, including Eurosport across Europe, sublicense agreements will extend the live broadcast to fans in key regions and countries such as Australia (SBS), Canada (CBC / FloSports), the Caribbean (Rush Sports), Colombia (Señal Colombia), China (Zhibo TV), France (La chaîne L’Équipe), Greece (ERT), Japan (Speed Channel), Latin America (Claro), Middle East and North Africa (BEIN Sports), Netherlands (RTL), South Africa (Supersport) and Spain (RTVE). 

Countries that are not covered by WBD Sports' network or another broadcast partner can still experience all the magic and drama of the UCI Track Champions League, as distribution will be provided through streaming platform Staylive. Founded in 2013, Staylive is a Swedish streaming solutions company that delivers over 1,000 live sports events per week to a global audience, and it already partners with WBD Sports to distribute the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, the FIM Endurance World Championship and the FIM Speedway Grand Prix. More information about Staylive and how to access the UCI Track Champions League can be found here.

For detailed information on where to watch each round in your country, click here.

DIVE DEEPER INTO THE ACTION WITH THE UCI TRACK CHAMPIONS LEAGUE APP 

As fans tune in to Season 4 on their TV screens, they can dive even deeper into the UCI Track Champions League action with the official app, offering an immersive experience that goes beyond the broadcast. 

Powered by AWS, the app serves as a comprehensive hub for everything you need to know about the UCI Track Champions League, giving fans a week-by-week guide and a personalized experience. Users can explore rider profiles with exclusive real-time and historical biometric data, giving fans an inside look at the riders' incredible physical performance—tracking speed, watts, cadence, and heart rate. 

The access to onboard camera feeds heightens the multi-sensory experience, making viewers feel like they're right there on the track, racing for UCI Track Champions League glory, all while comparing data between the competing athletes in real-time.

In addition to race results and standings, the app provides round info and the latest league news, along with new interactive features for a more engaging race experience. Fans can set push notification reminders to ensure they never miss the action, whether it’s their favourite rider hitting the track or a specific race about to start.

Before the races kick off, users can visit the Fan Zone feature to make predictions and compete head-to-head with Adam Blythe in special quests and challenges. The Cheer a Rider feature allows fans to show their support for their favourite athletes, while the innovative Feel Heartbeat button lets users feel an athlete’s live heartbeat through their phone’s vibration. Whether it’s a nervous 130 beats per minute at the start line or a blistering 200bpm in the final lap, this unique feature gives unprecedented insight into the intensity of world-class competition, fully immersing fans in the high-octane excitement of the UCI Track Champions League.

The UCI Track Champions League app is available to download for free on the App Store or the Google Play Store.

A POWERFUL LINE-UP 

Powered by Official Cloud Infrastructure Provider AWS, the UCI Track Champions League collates a huge range of data on the athletes competing, showcasing just how incredible their achievements and performances are. Here are some key figures ahead of the opening round.  

• Based on the maximum power they declared before the 2024 UCI Track Champions League, the 72 contenders could deliver up 116,717 watts – that’s more or less the power necessary to light up the 20,000 lightbulbs on the Eiffel Tower!
• Mikhail Yakovlev (Israel) has the biggest output on paper: 2,840 watts. He is also the tallest (199 cm) and the heaviest (103 kg) rider of the UCI Track Champions League 2024.
• When it comes to watts/kg, Matthew Richardson (Great Britain) has the highest score (31.8).
• In the Women’s Sprint League, Shaane Fulton (New Zealand) is the tallest (182 cm), the heaviest (83 kg) and the one who delivers the highest power (1,888 watts).
• Alla Biletska (Ukraine) has the biggest number when it comes to watts/kg (26.5) - while Martha Bayona (Colombia) distinguishes herself with her small stature (156 cm, 58 kg, 1,100 w, 19.0 w/kg).
• Riders from the Endurance Leagues distinguish themselves with their extraordinary cardiovascular abilities. Grant Koontz (USA) and Will Tidball’s (Great Britain) resting heart rates are as low as 35 beats per minute while Oscar Nilsson-Julien (France) can go up to 224 bpm in a maximum effort.
• Newcomers like Yareli Acevedo (Mexico, 160cm, 55kg) and Lucy Bénézet Minns (Ireland, 163cm, 55kg) will vie with the imposing Katie Archibald (Great Britain, 178cm, 75kg). And they will try to resist Anita Stenberg’s (Norway) impressive outbursts of power, up to 20 watts/kg!

ABOUT THE VÉLODROME NATIONAL DE SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES 

The flagship venue of the French Cycling Federation, the Vélodrome National is located 25 kilometres outside of Paris and is one of the fastest velodromes in the world. Opened in 2014, the venue has become one of the most spectacular in modern cycling, twice hosting the UCI Track World Championships, in 2015 and 2022. It made its UCI Track Champions League debut in 2022 and also featured last season and can seat up to 5,000 spectators. 

It has already hosted a huge event this year, as the home of track cycling at the Paris Olympics, which saw UCI World and Olympic records toppled in a thrilling conclusion to the Games. 

THE SPORTING FORMAT 

The UCI Track Champions League follows a league format with a consistent race programme in every round. Riders earn points in either the Sprint or Endurance category throughout the five rounds. 

In each category, there are two types of races where competitors can gather points: Sprinters will race in both Sprint and Keirin races, while Endurance riders compete in both Elimination and Scratch races. 

18 riders compete in each category, for a total of 72 riders, evenly split between men and women. The Men’s Endurance category will be one rider short, as Eiya Hashimoto has withdrawn from competition due to a heavy crash shortly before the start of the UCI Track Champions League. This means the Men’s Endurance will be contested by 17 riders.  

The Sprint Category races: 

Sprint: The Sprint race is won by the first rider to cross the finish line after three laps of the track. 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 race for the win. 

Keirin: The Keirin race is a mass start sprint over six laps. The first three laps of the track will be behind a pacesetting Derny motorcycle, leaving riders to sprint to the finish over the remaining three after the Derny exits the track. 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 start. 

Scratch: The classic Scratch race will be contested over a relatively short distance of 7.5 km and see high-speed action from the start. All 18 riders will be vying for a podium position over 30 laps of the 250m track, with the winner the first to cross the line.

POINTS AND RIDER 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.

RACE CALENDAR: 

The action kicks off on Saturday (23 November) in the Vélodrome National of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, just outside Paris (France). Round 1, sponsored by CIC, will be followed by a double-header as the riders head to the Netherlands for Rounds 2 & 3, in Apeldoorn, sponsored by BetCity, before returning to the iconic Lee Valley VeloPark in London for Round 4 and the sold-out Grand Finale.  

• Round 1: Saturday 23 November, 17:00 CET | Velodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France – BUY TICKETS
• Round 2: Friday 29 November, 19:00 CET | Omnisport Apeldoorn, the Netherlands – BUY TICKETS
• Round 3: Saturday 30 November, 16:00 CET | Omnisport Apeldoorn, the Netherlands – BUY TICKETS
• Round 4: Friday 6 December, 20:00 CET | London, Lee Valley VeloPark, UK – BUY TICKETS
• Round 5 / Grand Finale: Saturday 7 December, 18:30 CET | London / Lee Valley VeloPark, UK – SOLD OUT 

Since its launch in 2021, the UCI Track Champions League has grown from strength to strength, now taking one of the top spots in the track cycling international calendar alongside such elite company as the Tissot UCI Track World Championships, UCI Track Nations Cup, and the Olympic Games.  

The series – organised in partnership between the events division of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) – makes track cycling more accessible and exciting than ever before, bringing the sport to new audiences and allowing the world’s best riders another chance to compete for glory in front of millions of viewers.  

Alongside giving fans across Europe the chance to watch incredible feats of athleticism up close inside the velodrome, WBD broadcast network (including Max, discovery+, Eurosport and a host of international broadcast partners) will once again bring the drama into the comfort of viewers’ homes. 

Last season a record 19,600 spectators watched the action in person, while there were over 25 million video views across both the UCI Track Champions League and Eurosport social media platforms.