Track cycling: Campbell Stewart on the road to the UCI Track World Championships

Mixing two disciplines at the highest level

Between the UCI Track Nations Cup round in Konya, Türkiye, in March this year and the UCI Track World Championships in Santiago, Chile, this coming October, Campbell Stewart is racing on the roads for his UCI WorldTeam, Team Jayco AlUla.

The mix of road and track is something that benefits both disciplines according to the New Zealander, for whom building up an endurance base on the road, combined with the strength and power of track has “always kept me on my toes”.

“I guess for me track is something that I’ve always loved. That’s kind of where I started,” adds the 27-year-old, who was already making waves as a Junior 10 years ago. After being crowned Junior Oceania Champion in the omnium in 2014, he won the national titles in both the omnium on the track and in the road race in 2015. He earned four titles of Junior UCI World Champion on the track across 2015 and 2016, before moving into the Elite ranks where he has claimed five medals at UCI Track World Championships so far, including gold in the omnium in 2019. But his proudest moment was the omnium silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

“It was incredible. I think it’s something that you dream about, and you work towards for so many years and that’s what makes it special.”

His road to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games – where he was fifth in the team pursuit and fourth in the Madison - was a rocky one, that he qualifies as among the more difficult periods of his career: “It [track cycling] is always a mental challenge, but I think last year, going into Paris was definitely a hard one. I had a big crash around May before the Games, so being able to come back from that and, I guess, get back on and get training and try to prepare for that, was definitely one of the challenges.”

Stewart is already looking forward to preparing for the UCI Track World Championships in Sanitago: “Being able to pull on those rainbow bands is something we all strive for. Some people win them multiple times. I’m yet to win a second one! I’m trying to make that happen and I think hopefully in Chile at the end of this year… that’s another opportunity.

“There will be the elimination, Madison, omnium… and then we’ve always had a strong pursuit team, …. So yeah, we’ll see if we can get a few more rainbow bands for me and also for the New Zealand team. As I said, I’m going back onto the road for a few months, but hopefully with the right amount of preparation outside of track and then last-minute track preparation, it should come together.”

Hear more from Campbell Stewart in this video: