Endurance riders Archibald and Strong lead the way in UCI Track Champions League

Katie Archibald and Corbin Strong are in for the long haul.

The British star and the fast-emerging Kiwi are the first leaders of the endurance leagues after the opening round of the UCI Track Champions League, held in Mallorca (Spain) at the beginning of November.

“The night felt special,” Archibald reflects as the winner of the elimination and finishing 4th in the Scratch Race (dominated by Canada’s Maggie Coles-Lyster). “It was a great first event so I’m excited for the next round,” Strong announces, already looking forward to the event set to be held in the Cido Arena of Panevézys (Lithuania) on 27 November. The New Zealander won both the Scratch Race and the elimination in the Velòdrom Illes Balears, making him the most successful rider of the first night of the UCI Track Champions League.

The 21-year-old Kiwi, already a UCI World Champion in the points race (in Berlin 2020) then flew to Israel for a camp with his road UCI WorldTeam, Israel Start-Up Nation. He’s now back in Mallorca, “training with the Americans, the Canadians and the Japanese”, while Archibald has already been through a training camp on the Spanish island.

The first night of the UCI Track Champions League left no doubt as to how well the Mallorca settings suit these two stars.

Archibald rises through the night

For Katie Archibald, the opening round was “the start of something important”, and “a very cool thing to be part of”. “It just felt fun to be racing”, she adds. Coming off her four-medal haul in the UCI World Championships in Roubaix (one gold, one silver, two bronze), the Scottish champ jumped into action with the Scratch Race, an event she had dominated a few weeks earlier in the European Championships.

“We had an attack that stuck at about halfway,” she describes. “I was with the bunch, thinking the breakaway riders would get back. We got close in the final chase, with five laps to go, but of course everyone started to worry that they wouldn’t be the one that does too much work and doesn’t get to win. We were close, but not enough.”

Sprinting to 4th place, Archibald felt more relaxed for the second race. A strong mix of confidence, good legs, as well as her natural talent and the experience built at the highest level of racing led her to victory in the elimination: “I had to try and make sure I didn’t get caught in a stupid place when people start to do desperate things to try and make it one more lap. Once you get through that, if you’re strong enough, you’ll be able to hold on to fight for the finale. In the end, Kirsten [Wild] had been on the black line for a couple of sprints before, and she’s Kirsten Wild, so she’s one of the fastest people in the world. So for me it was better if we kept the effort so that she didn’t have time to recover and beat me.”

Strong: “It had been a long time since I felt that nice on the bike”

“I didn’t imagine I could win both events,” acknowledges Corbin Strong. “The last few months have not gone perfectly for me. I haven’t really hit the form I was hoping for. After the Worlds in Roubaix, I had a little bit of a break. I guess I recovered really well and I was going much better in Mallorca, so it was nice to have some good legs cause it had been a long time since I felt that nice on the bike.”

These good legs were quickly put to test: “The Scratch Race was 5km. We started full gas and it was pretty hard racing. I saw Iuri Leitao make his move. I knew he’s one of the most in-form riders at the moment, and I thought: ‘That’s a wheel to follow’. With one lap to go, I looked around, the bunch was a bit further behind than I thought, so I couldn’t wait too long, because otherwise they would come with obviously a lot more speed. I think Iuri had a similar thinking, but I managed to get around him and to hold off the bunch. It was a nice sprint and I was pretty happy.”

After such an effort, Strong was “extremely out of breath” but also very confident. “Tactically wise, the elimination is a big strength of mine”, he says, and indeed he took his second victory of the night, ahead of the USA’s Gavin Hoover.

To carry form into the 2nd round

“Obviously, I’ll be going into the next round with a big target on my back,” Strong anticipates. “I hope I can get some good legs and pull something off.”

His counterpart Archibald is set to join him in Lithuania after a couple of weeks in Scotland. “I fly home for my brother’s birthday party [John Archibald, also a track cyclist, who turned 31 on Sunday] and I’ll spend some time being looked after by my Mum to get ready for the next round,” she says.

The Cido Arena and the fans all around the world are eager to see her make the best of this unique preparation.