The Shanghai Velodrome, located in the Chongming district and home to a UCI World Cycling Centre Continental Development Satellite since 2024, will host the 2026 Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Championships from 14 to 18 October. This will be the first edition of the event to be held in mainland China.
More than 475 riders, including reserves, representing 47 nations, are entered in the sprint and endurance events on the programme. Twenty-two UCI World Champion titles will be awarded: 11 in the Women’s events and 11 in the Men’s.
A sprint title on the line every day
Eight UCI World Champion titles will be decided across the sprint specialities, with finals scheduled as follows:
Wednesday 14 October: women’s and men’s Team Sprint
Thursday 15 October: men’s Keirin
Friday 16 October: women’s Individual Sprint and men’s Kilometre Time Trial
Saturday 17 October: women’s Kilometre Time Trial
Sunday 18 October: women’s Keirin and men’s Individual Sprint
The Dutch in pursuit of further glory
Last year in Santiago, Chile, the Netherlands won seven of the eight sprint titles. Harrie Lavreysen claimed four of them, taking the individual sprint, team sprint, keirin and kilometre time trial, to become the first rider to win four titles at a single edition. His tally now stands at 20 UCI World Championship titles on the track, a record he had already taken from France’s Arnaud Tournant (14 titles) the previous year.
In 2026, the Dutchman spent several months in Japan honing his keirin skills before heading to Los Angeles with the 2028 Olympic Games already firmly in his sights. That same objective will shape his programme in Shanghai, where he will defend three of his four titles: the individual sprint, the keirin and the team sprint, alongside Jeffrey Hoogland and Roy van den Berg. He will not, however, defend his Kilometre Time Trial title.
In the Women’s events, compatriot Hetty van de Wouw won three titles in 2025: the individual sprint, team sprint and kilometre time trial. After her three silver medals in 2024 in Ballerup, Denmark, she has firmly established herself as the world’s leading sprinter. In Shanghai, she will once again line up in all four events, partnering Kimberly Kalee and Steffie van der Peet in the Team Sprint, with whom she claimed the Netherlands’ first world title in that event.
The international field lying in wait
The only sprint title that eluded the Netherlands in 2025 went to Japan’s Mina Sato, the reigning double Keirin UCI World Champion. A third title would see her join Australia’s Anna Meares and Germany’s Kristina Vogel as the only triple UCI Keirin World Champions. She would also become the first rider to win the event at three consecutive UCI World Championships.
To do so, she will need to hold off established champions such as New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews, rising talents such as Colombia’s Stefany Cuadrado, and the growing strength of China’s sprinters. China made its mark in the sprint events throughout the 2026 UCI Track Cycling World Cup, topping the team sprint rankings for both Women and Men, while Lijuan Wang won the women’s keirin standings ahead of compatriot Liying Yuan.
The 2026 UCI Track Cycling World Cup also confirmed the form of Britain’s Emma Finucane and Matthew Richardson, winners of their respective individual sprint overall standings, as well as Malaysia’s Azizulhasni Awang, who finished ahead of Harrie Lavreysen in the keirin standings. Having since recovered from a hip injury, Matthew Richardson will be on the start line in Shanghai, ready to challenge the world’s best sprinters.
Find out more about the 2026 Tissot UCI Track World Championships