One of the final UCI World Championships of the season rolls into Denmark’s Ballerup Super Arena this week with 22 track rainbow jerseys to be decided on the venue’s sloped wooden boards.
After an Olympic-filled summer, it will be an opportunity for those who won gold in Paris to double down on their status as the best in the world and will provide a chance for silver and bronze medallists to enact instant revenge while giving those who might have been off the pace in the French capital to show it was a mere blip.
The Tissot UCI Track World Championships are also a good indicator of who’s in top form just over a month out from the start of the UCI Track Champions League – the first round seeing the world’s best track riders head back to Paris’ Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome for a night of adrenaline-fuelled racing on November 23.
From Dutch sprinting superstar Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) to Katie Archibald’s (Great Britain) return from injury, here are the ones to watch in Denmark
2023 UCI Track Champions League overall winners: Ellesse Andrews (NZL), Harrie Lavreysen (NED), Katie Archibald (GBR) and Dylan Bibic (CAN)LAVREYSEN TARGETING FOUR RAINBOW JERSEYS
Harrie Lavreysen is a sprint phenomenon. The 27-year-old Dutchman added three Olympic golds to his collection this summer and already has 13 rainbow jerseys in his locker. The reigning sprint and team sprint UCI World Champion will be defending his titles in Denmark and aiming to add the keirin and time trial to his amazing medal record. But it’s not a foregone conclusion. He’ll face stiff competition from the 2023 UCI Keirin World Champion Kevin Quintero (Colombia), while compatriot Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands) holds the time trial rainbow jersey.
The men’s team sprint kicks off proceedings today (October 16), where a Great Britain team including Joe Truman will be hoping to spoil Lavreysen’s parade, with the keirin (October 17), 1km time trial (October 18) and sprint (October 20) to follow later in the schedule.
One rider who won’t be rivaling Lavreysen in Denmark is Matthew Richardson. The former Australian sprinter moved to represent Great Britain after winning two silvers and a bronze at the Olympics, but won’t be going tyre-to-tyre with his rival at this world championship. Instead, fans will have to wait until the opening round of the UCI Track Champions League to see them battle it out on the boards once more.
FINUCANE AND ANDREWS RESUME RIVALRY, GROS GOING FOR REDEMPTION AFTER DISAPPOINTING HOME OLYMPICS
In the women’s sprint competitions, there isn’t one rider who is as dominant as Lavreysen, but fans can expect tight contests that are separated by fractions of a second.
The women’s team sprint will also start today (October 16), with Emma Finucane’s Great Britain and Ellesse Andrews’ New Zealand (2023 UCI Track Champions League overall winner in the Women Sprint) likely to contest the top honours.
On Friday (October 18), the pair will resume their rivalry in the individual sprint (Finucane the 2023 UCI World Champion, while Andrews won Olympic gold in Paris), before concluding with the keirin (October 20) – a discipline that Andrews holds both the Olympic and UCI World titles. Hetty van de Wouw (Netherlands) could also be in contention in the latter, having won silver this summer.
In Saturday’s (October 19) women’s 500m time trial, Kristina Clonan (Australia) will be trying to improve on her second place from Glasgow 2023.
One rider seeking redemption in Denmark is 2022 UCI Track Champions League overall sprint champion Mathilde Gros (France). The 25-year-old had a disappointing home Olympic Games but knows what it takes to win a rainbow jersey having claimed the sprint title in 2022.
WOOD, BIBIC, TIDBALL, AND MORE IN CONTENTION FOR MEN’S ENDURANCE COMPETITIONS
While the sprint and endurance competitions are split evenly at the Olympics, at the Tissot UCI Track World Championship, the scratch (October 17), elimination (October 20) and points (October 18) race also get their own title – in addition to the individual pursuit (October 18), team pursuit (October 17), Madison (October 20), and omnium (October 19). You therefore tend to get omnium specialists flexing their muscles in more than one race format, while pursuit and Madison pairs stay in their own lane.
Oliver Wood (Great Britain) is a great example. Part of Great Britain’s team pursuit quartet, the 28-year-old is in Denmark solely to try and improve on the team’s second from Paris 2024. Dylan Bibic (Canada) meanwhile will be competing in four formats – elimination race, scratch, omnium and Madison. The 2023 UCI Track Champions League Men Endurance champion didn’t manage to reach the same heights in Paris as he did last autumn but will be hoping to show that his form has improved a month from the start of his title defense.
Other riders to look out for in Denmark include the reigning Scratch UCI World Champion William Tidball (Great Britain), and Belgium’s Fabio Van den Bossche, who won bronze in the points race and omnium at Glasgow 2023.
VALENTE PURSUING PERFECT 2024, ARCHIBALD MAKES RETURN FROM INJURY
Jennifer Valente has already had 12 months to remember – the 2022 UCI Track Champions League Women Endurance champion adding Olympic gold in the team pursuit and omnium to her 2023 UCI World Championship titles in scratch and omnium. But the 29-year-old could add another five rainbow jerseys to her collection and is competing in the scratch (October 16), omnium (October 18), elimination (October 17), points (October 20), and Madison (October 19).
One rider trying to stop her in the latter will be Katie Archibald (Great Britain). The 2023 UCI Track Champions League Women Endurance champion has had a polar opposite year to Valente – injuring herself in a freak accident weeks out from the Olympic Games – but is making her competitive return alongside Neah Evans (Great Britain) in the two-rider event. The 30-year-old will also be part of Great Britain’s team pursuit (October 17) squad, which will be looking to retain its world title after having to settle for third at Paris 2024.
FINAL 2024 UCI TRACK CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFYING SPOTS ON THE LINE
This week’s Tissot UCI Track World Championship is also the last qualifying event for the 2024 UCI Track Champions League following the new qualification criteria announced at the beginning of the season.
So far, 41 athletes have qualified and are guaranteed a spot in this season’s UCI TCL if they choose to compete. The final full roster for the fourth edition of the 2024 UCI Track Champions League will be announced soon.
