Track Champions League

This is starting to gather momentum in the publicity world so I thought I’d share here.

In the (recent) past, the UCI’s format for Track racing was to have 6 World Cup events that would take place through October - January (we were lucky to host one of the stops here in Milton for the last 3 years!). Followed by the World Championships in February.

In conjunction with the planned UBER World Championships in September 2023 (Glasgow) which will hold the Worlds for a list of cycling disciplines (Road, Para-road, Track, Para-track, MTB cross-country, MTB Downhill, MTB Marathon, MTB Cross Country Eliminator, TT, BMX, Indoor cycling, Gran Fondo) (more info here: Glasgow and Scotland to host inaugural UCI Cycling World Championships in 2023 ). It became apparent that Track cycling would need to adjust its calendar.

The UCI has restructured it so that the year now follows the following format:
Nations Cup Series (May - August)

  • 3 locations
  • Used to allow riders to qualify for the Worlds
  • Full range of races (Sprint, Pursuit, bunch races, Keirin)

Worlds (September)

Champions League (November/December) (more info: The UCI Track Champions League reveals its new, dynamic racing format )

  • 6 locations over 6 consecutive weeks
  • World Champions automatically qualify
  • Sprint, Keirin, Elimination, and Scratch Races
  • Prime time (EU) televised (goal is to attract new fans to track racing)
  • Hosted by Kristina Vogel and Chris Hoy

I recommend following the Champions League twitter account (https://twitter.com/UCITCL) as the are posting quick videos on race rules, and also introduced the first qualified riders (“Founders”) this week.

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Video of the Launch Event that took place earlier today.
Introducing this year’s locations and additional information.

Interesting. Is is possible Milton will be involved in the Champions League?

Edit: I guess I should watch the video to find out. :slight_smile: :upside_down_face:

Milton is not included for this year’s edition. However, it may be in the future if they decide to come to North America! But…that might not be very likely as the Champions League is created by Eurosport/GCN and the UCI and intended for European prime time television…

Milton has a greater chance as a “Nations Cup” location (replacing the World Cup events that Milton hosted for the last 3 years). But…given the locations of a couple of this year’s Nations Cup (Hong Kong and Columbia in particular) and the UCI Track division’s ‘interesting’ history and current goings-on, i’m not sure HOW they decide these locations! This recent article spells out some of these facts.

Here it comes…the UCI Track Champions League starts up this Saturday, November 6 on GCN+

This article will bring you up to speed (also has a link to the official site where you can see which riders have qualified…we have 4 rider from Canada!)…and hopefully get you excited to check out the action!

Enjoy!

Also…from a separate article…
"“AWS and Discovery Sports Events will help UCI redefine and innovate track cycling by providing fans a more connected experience with real-time data into riders’ performances and race statistics.

“Imagine fans being able to see things like predictive insights and their favourite riders’ bike speeds, race positions, pedal cadences, and even biometrics all from a connected app on their phones."

This sounds like it will be very interesting!

Apparently CBC sports picked it up so we can all watch via free streaming!

Just started (2pm Saturday)

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