Six months after its official opening, and with athlete training in full swing, the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) satellite in New Delhi is also working to raise the level of coaching throughout the country.
From May 12 to 14, 35 coaches from all over the country attended a three-day coaching seminar held at the New Delhi centre. Of these participants, ten will be selected to participate in a UCI Level 1 coaching course that will be run at the Indian satellite in the second half of June.
The UCI World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland, will send one of its own coaching experts to New Delhi to conduct next month’s course. It is likely that some of the Indian coaches will then take their training to the next level by attending the high-level WCC Coaching Diploma course in Aigle. The New Delhi satellite’s Head Coach, RK Sharma, is himself a graduate of the UCI WCC Coaching Diploma course.
“Our five satellite centres in Asia, Africa and South America are key to the development of cycling in those regions,” explains UCI WCC Director Frédéric Magné. “For this development to be truly effective, they need to train not only the athletes, but also the coaches who have the sporting future of these riders in their hands.”
The UCI WCC satellite in New Delhi opened in November 2015 and houses the National Track Team of India. It has also carried out an extensive talent detection exercise which has resulted in some of the country’s most promising younger riders to train in New Delhi while continuing their schooling.