Fans of track cycling set to follow star athletes joining new UCI Track Champions League competition 

Competitors at a track cycling event

The UCI Track Champions League has announced that six of the world’s leading track athletes will be taking part in the competition’s inaugural year as ‘Founding Riders’, with the aim of drawing in more viewers. The Founding Riders will bring the human story behind the event to life in the build up to and during the UCI Track Champions League.

2021 is set to be an electrifying year for track cycling, with the Founding Riders battling it out at the Tokyo Olympics and UCI World Championships before taking on the brand new UCI Track Champions League.

Behind the scenes footage of each athlete will play out on the world stage in a way that has never been attempted in the sport of track cycling before. Fans will be able to follow the journey of each athlete in detail across the UCI Track Champions League’s channels as well as via Eurosport and the Global Cycling Network; two broadcasters among many providing coverage of the exciting new event.

Three men and three women, each at different stages of their careers, have been chosen as Founding Riders. It is an international mix, with six riders hailing from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, UK and Lithuania. Racing alongside their fellow competitors at six international rounds, the Founding Riders have been chosen as talented representatives of the sport’s major track cycling nations.

These riders have been pre-selected as part of a qualification process that will see the first 12 places in each category – Sprint and Endurance – qualify from the UCI World Championships and the remaining six places allocated to the world’s best track riders. This will be determined by a range of criteria including UCI rankings, Olympic performance and previous results at major events. All will be setting their sights on being crowned either the Endurance or Sprint Champion as they emerge from six back-to-back rounds of competition.

François Ribeiro, head of Eurosport Events, promoter of the UCI Track Champions League, said: “When you’re invested in an athlete or a team, watching sport becomes instantly more captivating. And as our mission is to grow the fanbase of track cycling across the world, our Founding Riders will play a crucial role in getting new audiences invested in the drama on the track each week and throughout 2021. We’re thrilled to have on board six extremely talented and professional athletes who, between them, have amassed more than twenty UCI Track Cycling World Championships titles and Olympic gold medals. We’re looking forward to them sharing with us their passion for track cycling, the hours of preparation they put into training and the incredible skill they have perfected.”

The UCI Track Champions League will take place during November and December 2021.