Nine months ago, the velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines brought the curtain down on the track cycling season with the UCI Track Cycling World Championships, watched by 25,000 spectators. Now, fresh from their different Continental Championships, the best specialists in the world embark on the UCI Track Cycling World Cup.
This season’s UCI World Cup, which kicks off in Cali before continuing in New Zealand and Hong Kong, has a distinct Olympic air to it. And for cause. The riders have their eyes firmly set on the Rio 2016 Games, and the three rounds of the UCI World Cup can help them earn their tickets. Multiple UCI World Champion François Pervis would say nothing to the contrary. Before flying to Colombia, the French star did not hide his joy at the prospect of racing in Cali, and proudly posed with the jersey of Colombian football star Radamel Falcao. At the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, the French cyclist made history by winning the three sprint titles (Sprint – keirin – kilometre). Not selected for London in 2012, Pervis (31) dreams of showing what’s what in Rio.
In the sprint events, the Netherlands will want to confirm the domination they demonstrated at the European Championships in Switzerland with titles for Jeffrey Hoogland (sprint and kilometre) and Elis Ligtlee (keirin and sprint). The new record woman for the 500m, Russia’s Anastasiia Voinova promises to be one to watch this season, but will have to face up to Australia’s Anna Meares (11 World titles), who was recently voted sports woman of the year in her country.
Great Britain’s Bradley Wiggins will also be present on Cali’s 250 track. The winner of the 2012 Tour de France and holder of the UCI Hour Record decided to return to his first cycling discipline for the Rio 2016 Olympics.
European Champion in the team pursuit with Great Britain, “Wiggo” will no doubt be one of the main attractions of the weekend. Great Britain collected nine European medals on the Grenchen track and will be one of the much-awaited nations along with Australia, which recently amassed 17 gold medals at the recent Oceania Championships. After Cali, the season will continue in Cambridge in New Zealand (5-6 December) and Hong Kong (16-17 January).
The competitions will be broadcast live on www.uci.ch on Sunday 1 November.