Round 1 of the 2026 UCI Track World Cup, held from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 March in Perth, Australia, saw the home specialists take an early lead in the overall series standings. With three gold medals among a total of nine podium finishes, the Australian riders topped the medal table ahead of Germany and China, who each claimed five medals.
Australia will look to defend their lead at the next UCI Track World Cup round in Hong Kong, China (17–20 April), before the third and final round takes place in Nilai, Malaysia (24–26 April).
Australian success on home soil
The crowds at Perth’s SpeedDome witnessed a successful start to the Australian campaign, with two collective victories in the team pursuit on Friday, the first day of competition.
Claudia Marcks, Maeve Plouffe, Alyssa Polites and Felicity Wilson-Haffenden set the tone by winning the women’s event. Then Noah Blannin, Thomas Cornish, Joshua Duffy and Liam Walsh overlapped Kai Kwong Tso, Yik Fei Ma, Ching Yin Mow and Pak Hang Ng (HKG) to secure gold in the men’s competition.
Australia’s third gold medal came on the final day, when Alessia McCaig capitalised on her strong form to defeat Alina Lysenko (AIN) in the women’s keirin. Fresh from a successful outing at the recent OCC Oceanian Track Championships, McCaig arrived in Perth full of confidence:
“I’m super excited. I’ve had a few opportunities, being in a couple of 1–6 finals internationally, and I’m super happy to be on the podium. To win as well, it’s crazy.”
Australia’s medal haul continued throughout the weekend. On Friday, Thomas Cornish took silver in the men’s elimination and Kristine Perkins, Liliya Tatarinoff and Sophie Watts earned bronze in the women’s team sprint. Saturday brought a silver in the women’s Madison for Alyssa Polites and Keira Will, while Leigh Hoffman finished third, securing bronze, in the men’s keirin. On Sunday, Hoffman took silver in the men’s sprint and Conor Leahy and Liam Walsh placed second in the men’s Madison.
Global stars in action
Across the 14 events on the programme, the SpeedDome showcased a host of international stars. Among them was Matthew Richardson, a former UCI World Champion with Australia (of team sprint, in 2022) who now represents Great Britain after switching teams in 2025. In Perth, he claimed gold in the men’s sprint and silver in the men’s keirin, finishing behind Malaysia’s Mohd Azizulhasni Awang.
Second in the overall standings, Germany claimed three gold medals. Reigning UCI World Champion for Scratch Moritz Augenstein dominated the men’s elimination on Friday before securing another victory on Sunday alongside Roger Kluge in the men’s Madison. Germany’s third success came from Maximilian Dornbach, Nik Schröter and Luca Spiegel, winners of the men’s team sprint.
At only 20, Liying Yuan was central to China’s strong showing in Perth. She won the women’s team sprint on Friday with Xuehuang Luo and Lijuan Wang, beat New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews in the women’s sprint on Saturday, and added bronze in the women’s keirin on Sunday.
Japan also claimed two gold medals: Shunsuke Inamura dominated the men’s omnium, while Maho Kakita and Tsuyaka Uchino triumphed in the women’s Madison.
The final winner of the weekend was Norway’s Anita Yvonne Stenberg, who claimed victory in the women’s omnium a couple of days after finishing second in the women’s elimination, won by Mexico’s Yareli Acevedo Mendoza.