The final countdown is underway for a fresh series of the UCI Track Champions League, starting this Saturday in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France with Britain's Katie Archibald, New Zealand's Ellesse Andrews and Canadian Dylan Bibic three of the top names hoping to renew their 2023 overall victories.
"I can’t wait to get back on the track and try to defend my title from last year. This season has had some ups and downs for me," Archibald said in a pre-series statement.
"But this is an opportunity to end it on a high. I want to race well and make the most of the form I've got - especially in front of a home crowd at the Lee Valley velodrome."
As Archibald said, she has had a rollercoaster 2024 with two freak accidents so far this year, one of which saw her miss the Olympic Games because of falling and breaking her leg near her home, and then another during the London 3 Day series which left her with a dislocated shoulder.
In between, the Scot secured a significant triumph in the Track World Championships with a team pursuit gold medal, as well as taking bronze in the Madison.
Other top-flight sprint royalty in the five-round 2024 Track Champions League include Dutch sprinter Harrie Lavreysen, winner of three gold medals in the 2024 Olympics, and his leading sprint rival Matthew Richardson, in what will be their first encounter since the Games.
While Lavreysen claimed a further three golds in the World Championships, Richardson - also a triple Olympic medallist - had to wait until his recent switch of nationalities from Australia to Great Britain was completed before returning to competition. But he is now raring to go again in the Track Champions League.
"After a break after the Games, I was mainly able to train a lot to perform as well as possible here," Richardson said in a pre-league press conference, according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
"There are many challenges waiting for me in my new situation. I am very curious to see how it will turn out. I am especially looking forward to the competitions in London."
Other star names across the sprint and endurance events include 2023 series runner-up Will Tidball (Great Britain), 2022 overall winner Claudio Imhof (Switzerland), 2024 Track world champions Anna Morris and Emma Finucane (Great Britain) and 2024 Olympic double-gold medallist Andrews.
Racing in the five-round event begins Saturday, November 23 in the Vélodrome National of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, a venue which witnessed many of the battles for Olympic glory last summer.
A week later, Rounds 2 and 3 take place in another familiar World Championships scenario at Apeldoorn velodrome in the Netherlands, before the series heads onto the Lee Valley VeloPark in London for Round 4 and a sold-out final round in the same Lee Valley VeloPark on the evening of Saturday, December 7.
Split into Endurance and Sprint events with 36-strong fields in each category, every round of the Track Champions League features the same race programme and offers points towards a leader's jersey and, of course, overall victory.
Each category has two different types of races in which competitors can accumulate points: sprinters in both sprint and keirin events, while endurance riders race both elimination and scratch. Overall battles for the four titles on offer have sometimes gone down to the last event of the entire series in London.
The UCI Track Champions League will be accessible worldwide through WBD Sports' extensive network including Max, Eurosport and discovery+, as well as a host of broadcast partners.
Track Champions League 2024 schedule
- Round 1 - Saturday, November 23, 17:00 CET at Velodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France
- Round 2 - Friday, November 29, 19:00 CET at Omnisport Apeldoorn, the Netherlands
- Round 3 - Saturday, November 30, 16:00 CET at Omnisport Apeldoorn, the Netherlands
- Round 4 - Friday, December 6, 20:00 CET at London, Lee Valley VeloPark, UK
- Round 5 -Saturday, December 7, 18:30 CET at London / Lee Valley VeloPark, UK
