The 2015 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup gets under way this weekend in Plzen, the Czech Republic. It is the first of eight rounds, which will be followed by the final in Mosnang, Switzerland, in December.
Plzen is one of two rounds this year in the Czech Republic, a country made famous for this discipline by the Pospíšil brothers, who won the Cycle-ball World Championship 20 times between 1965 and 1988. Incidentally, it was in Plzen that Jan and Jindrich Pospíšil won the final round of the 1980 European Cup, beating the team of Osterwalder/Oberhanzli from Mosnang.
Among the three Czech teams performing in front of their home crowd this Saturday, is the duo of Pavel Smid and Petr Skotak (TJ Favorit Brno), bronze medallists in the 2014 UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships.
In total, 34 teams from 11 countries will take part in the UCI Cycle-ball World Cup.
Returning to the calendar in 2015 is Tokyo, which last hosted a World Cup round in 2007. Asia is developing this spectacular discipline and this year’s competition sees the participation of teams from Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia, giving Asian contenders the perfect opportunity to measure up against their European adversaries. The UCI regularly organises courses for coaches and commissaires in Asia, usually in conjunction of one of the World Cup rounds on the continent.
For the record
Cycle-ball is an exclusively male discipline in which teams of two players compete in a match that bears a resemblance to football. The athletes strike the ball with the front or rear wheel of their bikes, or with their body. The bikes have no brakes or free wheel, and the winning team is the one that scores the most goals.
The first World Championships were held in 1930, and the UCI Cycle-World Cup was introduced in 2002. The Plzen round of the World Cup is organised by TJ Start VD Plzen, a club which was founded in 1921.
2015 UCI Cycle-ball World Cup calendar