Track cycling, a discipline at the very root of two-wheeled competition, continues to explore new horizons as the 2025 Tissot UCI Track World Championships settle, for the first time, in Santiago, making Chile the 23rd nation to host the event, and the third in South America after Venezuela (1977) and Colombia (1995, 2014)
With 11 events each for men and women, there will be 22 UCI World Champion titles at stake on the track across five days of competition (22-26 October). Endurance specialists will battle for glory in the individual pursuit, team pursuit, Madison, scratch race, omnium, points race and elimination, while sprinters will storm the Peñalolén velodrome in the individual sprint, team sprint, keirin and time trial. Rainbow jerseys of UCI World Champion will be awarded from the first day of competition.
Oranje icons chase more glory
Some 335 riders representing 38 nations are on the Entry List for competition in Chile. Among them, 19 won UCI World Champion titles last year in Aalborg, Denmark, and will try to solidify their position in the history of their sport. The rest aim to topple the established champions and take their rainbow jerseys.
The Dutch will be particularly watched, starting with Harrie Lavreysen. Last year, the powerhouse became the rider with most UCI Track World Champion titles, bringing his tally to 16 Elite rainbow jerseys. How high will he push the counter? Winner of three gold medals at the 2024 edition, he lines up again for the individual sprint, the team sprint (alongside Jeffrey Hoogland and Roy van den Berg), the 1km time trial and the keirin, where he’ll face off against Japan’s Kento Yamazaki, crowned in 2024.
Fresh from her victory at the UCI Gravel World Championships, the Netherlands’ Lorena Wiebes also chases more rainbow glory on the track. Last year, she won the scratch race. This time, she also takes on the omnium and the Madison (with Lisa van Belle), where she’ll be pitched against defending UCI World Champion Amalie Dideriksen (Denmark), now partnering with Laura Auerbach-Lind after her previous Madison partner and fellow UCI World Champion Julie Leth retired at the end of 2024.
Global talents face off
The list of defending UCI World Champions on the Entry List is huge, with the likes of Emma Finucane (Great Britain), Lindsay De Vylder (Belgium), Tim Torn Teutenberg and Roger Kluge (Germany), and Mina Sato (Japan). As for the women’s time trial, the distance increases from 500 metres to 1km this year, providing a new challenge for all contenders, including defending winner Iana Burlakova (AIN). The Netherlands’ Hetty van de Wouw set the world record over the new distance (1.04:497) to take the European title in February, just a day after New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews had brought the benchmark down to 1.04:697 to take victory at the Oceania Championships. We can expect an exciting battle – and maybe a new world mark – in Chile.
It’s a similar story with the women’s individual pursuit, now raced over 4,000 metres (compared to its previous distance of 3,000 metres). Will the change of distance change the hierarchy? The USA’s Chloé Dygert, winner of the event on four occasions (2017, 2018, 2020, 2023), also has her road background to help her hold the distance.
Rising stars will also try to make a name for themselves on the biggest stage. Aged just 19, Colombia’s Stefany Cuadrado was among the celebrated winners at the Pan American Championships in April, alongside her countryman Kevin Quintero (2023 UCI World Champion in the keirin), as well as Trinidad and Tobago’s Nicholas Paul and Mexico’s Yareli Acevedo. They’re all chasing global glory in Santiago, where they will also meet with Korea’s Taeho Choi, winner of the keirin and the individual sprint a couple of months ago at the UCI Junior Track World Championships.