Track cycling is breaking new ground, with a Champions League to end the shadowy existence of the Olympic discipline - and there is also a proud sum of prize money to be won. It all starts on Saturday in Mallorca. From a German perspective, the sprint queens Emma Hinze and Lea Sophie Friedrich will take centre stage.
"I think the Champions League is a good format to bring track cycling closer to people," said Hinze. Whereas World Cups used to last up to four days, the cycling world federation UCI and TV partner Eurosport have opted for a short but high-calibre format. Four competitions will be held in just under three hours: sprint, keirin, scratch and elimination race, each for women and men. Technology will be used to make data on speed, wattage, heart rate and cadence transparent.
Five stages are on the calendar for the debut season. After the kick-off in Mallorca, the race will head to Panevezys/Lithuania (27 November), a double event in London (3 and 4 December) and finally to the new velodrome in Tel Aviv (11 December). The planned race day at the velodrome in St. Quentin-en-Yvelines near Paris has been cancelled. The 2022 World Championships track is still needed as a coronavirus vaccination centre and is not available.
In terms of prize money, the series is entering new dimensions for track cycling. According to the organisers, 500,000 euros will be paid out - the same for men and women. The respective overall discipline winners will receive 25,000 euros. For comparison: at the World Championships in Roubaix in mid-October, there were 8,000 euros for a title in an Olympic discipline. There are 72 riders in the starting field, including the current who's who of track cycling with 19 world champions.
In addition to the two Cottbus world champions Hinze and Friedrich, Germany's former world champion Stefan Bötticher from Chemnitz and former star Maximilian Levy will also be taking part. Levy had actually ended his career after the Olympic Games, but the future national junior coach is getting back on his track bike for the new format.
"Like so often in life, when you try to break up with a relationship, it comes back and hugs you tight," said Levy, who won his first of ten World Championship medals in Palma in 2007. "It's a welcome opportunity to say 'Ciao'. And it's a good thing when track cycling is also given a higher status by the world federation," explained the 34-year-old.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:211104-99-862431/2
