CARLIN AND VAN DE WOUW AMONG SEVEN OLYMPIANS WHO HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THE UCI TRACK CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Olympic medallists Jack Carlin (Great Britain), Hetty van de Wouw (the Netherlands), Benjamin Thomas (France) and Daria Pikulik (Poland) are part of a seven strong wave of riders who have qualified for the 2024 UCI Track Champions League. The quartet are joined by Matthew Glaetzer (Australia), Iúri Leitão (Portugal), and Fabio van den Bossche (Belgium).

All have secured their spot after their amazing results at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and join a well-rounded list of riders already qualified for the 2024 season.

This includes the 2023 UCI Track Champions League overall winners: Ellesse Andrews (New Zealand), Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands), Dylan Bibic (Canada), and Katie Archibald (Great Britain), as well as several gold medallists from the 2024 Continental Championships, such as Emma Finucane (Great Britain) or Matthew Richardson, who recently made a significant career move by joining Team GB. Additionally, 21 more athletes have qualified through their performances at the 2024 Tissot UCI Nations Cup in Adelaide, Hong Kong, and Milton, including notable names like Mathilde Gros (France) and Elia Viviani (Italy).

The new qualification criteria approved by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in early July is designed to guarantee the world’s best athletes will go head-to-head in the five-round series.

The new riders and their qualifying performances are:
• Hetty van de Wouw (NED), silver medal in the women’s keirin.
• Daria Pikulik (POL), silver medal in the women’s omnium.
• Jack Carlin (GBR), bronze in the men’s sprint (also won silver in men’s team sprint).
• Matthew Glaetzer (AUS), bronze in the men’s keirin (also won bronze in the men’s team sprint).
• Benjamin Thomas (FRA), gold in the men’s omnium.
• Iúri Leitão (POR), silver in the men’s omnium (also won gold in the men’s Madison).
• Fabio van den Bossche (BEL), bronze in the men’s omnium.

Chris Ball, Vice President of Cycling Events at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, stated: “The 2024 UCI Track Champions League is already shaping up nicely, and the latest qualified riders after their fantastic performances at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games highlights our commitment to putting on a competition that features and attracts the best track cyclists in the world.

The next major qualifying event will be the 2024 Tissot UCI Track World Championships, which will be hosted at the Ballerup Super Arena in Ballerup, Denmark between October 16 and 20. While rainbow jerseys will be on the line, a place at the UCI Track Champions League could act as an added incentive – particularly with a €25,000 prize pot for the overall winners (men and women in each category).

It’s not just down to the 2024 Tissot UCI Track World Championships though – there’s also a wild card system in place that’s designed to recognise exceptional talent and promote diversity. These spots are attributed based on exceptional performances in specific events, outstanding achievements, high UCI individual points rankings and notable performances in previous editions of the UCI Track Champions League.

THREE-MONTH COUNTDOWN
The dust might have just settled at the velodrome that hosted the track events of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but it won’t be long until the world’s best riders are taking to the boards once more – the Vélodrome National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines hosting the first of five back-to-back rounds, starting on November 23. From there, the series will head to the Netherlands on November 29-30 for a double-header at the Omnisport Apeldoorn – a new venue for the UCI Track Champions League – before concluding with round 4 and the Grand Finale at Lee Valley Velodrome, London (Great Britain) on December 6-7.

The UCI Track Champions League features a total of 72 athletes, equally split between the Sprint and Endurance Leagues, with 18 male and 18 female competitors in each category. The 41 riders who have qualified so far are guaranteed a spot if they choose to compete.

The final roster for the fourth edition of the UCI Track Champions League will be announced in the weeks leading up to the event, so there is still time to secure a direct spot or demonstrate through interest, motivation, and performance that a rider deserves to compete in one of the 'Monuments' of track cycling, at the very pinnacle of the global racing calendar.