SEVEN-TIME OLYMPIC CHAMPION JASON KENNY PREVIEWS ROUND TWO OF THE UCI TRACK CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

What do you think of the new format?
Discovery have jumped in at the deep end obviously, and I appreciate it was a massive challenge to do that. But I think the concept is really good. It's a really good idea. There's a little bit of freedom in there with regards to making the race how the organizer wants it, how you guys want it and everything and that kind of makes better racing. Ultimately, I think sometimes in the past we've been a bit restricted with regulations. It’s made racing below the top international level quite difficult to put on. So as a concept, I think it's really good.

Hopefully we've gone in at the top and it'll filter down, and we can maybe build like filter series, feeder series for it. And then it will be a really good, really positive thing. It’s come at a really good time, when we would have really struggled I think, as a sport. We were already lacking racing anyway. We have been lacking a little bit of volume and then obviously COVID came along and shut it all down. I think there was was a good chance that there was going to be a few lean years, with people scrambling for a bit of racing. I think it's come at an ideal time. Hopefully, it will kind of kick-start the track racing back up again.

What do you think of one of the main goals of it - to help track cycling reach more of a mainstream audience?
I think there's been a bit of over-regulation in a way, each race has to be a certain order and things like that. Take a sprint, for example, you've got to qualify and you've got to run so many rounds and that inevitably takes all day to do. And there's been little rules, you’re not allowed to come to qualifying certain hours before the first race, so you can't just do it a day early and get it out the way. And I think that to cut through that and just get down to the racing is the great and exciting bit and to try and get it all in into a program that's about two or three hours long.

It's ideal for sitting at home on the sofa watching. It's not so intense that you can't take your eyes off it, you can go and it's just there on in the background. It's like same as watching the football or the Formula One. It's just that kind of Saturday afternoon / evening TV really, which is ideal.

What about the potential to up the level of track cycling by offering the opportunity for maybe some of the riders from some of the countries where they have less financial support?
It's quite difficult to survive and track cycling as an as an individual, I think. Obviously, we're lucky, we have full support from the federation and from UK Sport. But if you come from a nation that doesn't have that kind of support it can be quite difficult. So, I think this is a good opportunity. You get your little space on your skins that you can sell.

Obviously, the prize money is actually worth turning up for which again is really good and a really positive thing. It's good for giving individuals an opportunity to make a go at themselves without necessarily needing the backing of a big federation.

We saw the women's scratch race was really good. I thought because it was won by someone else in a different way. And I love that it was a proactive rider who got the reward really for sticking their neck out. I think because the race is quite punchy, and quite short, and in quick succession, it gives people that opportunity to be a bit of a bit different. And ultimately you’re only a couple of weeks away from the next race and so you can go out and try something different.

Are there any riders that have particularly impressed you?
Maggie Coles-Lyster in the scratch. That for me was brilliant. That was a highlight. You had Kirsten [Wild] and Katie [Archibald] tripping over each other in the bunch. Katie [Archibald] showed in the elimination race obviously she was the strongest and looked a million dollars. So, it'll be interesting to see now moving into the next one how that pans out if anyone hopefully tries to get away again and the same with the men's race with Corbin Strong. He was the complete opposite. Patience paid off for him. He knew he was probably one of the favourites for the sprint if it came back. He just bided his time.

It's really good to see because it's in quick succession, you get to see the different ways that people kind of go at it and it’s 20 laps at the end of the day, there's no messing about, they’ve got to get stuck into it.

And on the Sprint side?
The sprinting was really interesting actually I thought. It’s hard because I think it’s back-to-back and obviously, there's a lot of big guys pushing really big gears. And the same on the girls side. And I think you saw some people start quite strong and faded quite a lot. Harrie [Lavreysen] obviously couldn't get around in the Keirin. I think his legs finally abandoned even him, which is really good to see. It shows it's not easy. And obviously, we saw Jeffrey [Hoogland] not quite make the final for the sprint even. So it's not easy and it's really good to see like the guys like Nicolas Paul and [Stefan] Bötticher getting stuck in and really making it really tough. There is an opportunity there but like I say it's not easy so if you can get to the final in good shape there is an opportunity for someone else to maybe go and get some wins. It's not all about the favourites necessarily.

Because it’s so quick, you’re not going to be able to prepare in the same way as you would when you've got a day or so between races?
That's it. We've got used to such big recoveries now. I think the sprint at the Olympics is over three days. So, we've got used to being able to go really deep and really go for it and like I say, whack on big gears, do loads of damage and know that you will have time to recover off the back of it. Whereas once your legs fall off, if you've only got 20 minutes off, then you’re doomed. You’re ultimately not going to feature in the next race. So there is that, the guys are going to have to court with as best they can. I think it's going to be a challenge.

Lithuania’s riders in this competition they seem strong. And passionate for it as well.
In the Sprint's they were really strong, obviously they’ve got [Simona] Krupeckaitė and [Vasilijus] Lendel, and on the day they're both really competitive and someone like Krupeckaitė I can see potentially popping out and getting some decent results from these races.

Do you think we might see you participating next year?
Possibly, yes. If I'm good enough and I qualify then then yes. It's obviously it's a good opportunity to go race and to get points that we always need for qualifying. That's really important for us. So absolutely no reason why not? If I’m good enough, I'll definitely be keen to go race.

There's been a big emphasis on the use of technology and sharing the data from the riders and so on. How insightful is that?
It's like everything. When we start measuring stuff, even in our little bubble when we train, we collect data and then figure out what it means later on. So I think it's, it's really good that we get numbers now and we can start collecting it. And as the races progress, and we follow it, and people will start to learn what is good and what's impressive. Cycling is really good for numbers. It’s brilliant.

Every cyclist is obsessed with watts and things like that and drag coefficients now more recently. So I think the more information we can put out there… and it's all possible now. It's all relatively easy to do, isn't it? I think live speed, accurate live speed is really good, heart rates, powers... And it's just really cool isn't and it adds to the spectacle. Particularly when you sat at home watching it and you started getting all this information feeding in - it's really interesting.

Does watching or doing the media side with Discovery Eurosport make you want to be out there more?
I watched the last one on television, so that didn't really make me want to be out there. But in Lithuania, I’ll obviously be track centre and floating around the track. It's such a such a great buzz when you're in there I think that that'll make me want to get back on my bike and get training and get racing again. Because that's what I really like doing, that's what I love when you get to the track centre, and everyone's turning up with their best kit, and looking really good and fast - and I love that, I thrive off that. It will give me a real buzz.

So you're going to be doing a bit of commentary on this working with Eurosport. Is that you slightly looking to what's next in your career?
Possibly a little bit. Whatever happens next, whether I get back into cycling or not, I'm really keen to stay in the world of track cycling. It’s the only world that I know really that I've grown up in. It’s given me everything really, I've always I've always worked in it, so I'm really keen to stay in it in one way or another. And it'd be really nice to be able to make a living moving forward from track cycling me so yeah, this is potentially one thing. I'm a little bit nervous, I'm not going to lie! But we'll give it a go.

It's one of those things, if you never try it you never know really. We will see what happens. Ultimately, I enjoy it. I’d be watching anyway. And I'm like everyone, everyone's got an opinion so I might as well share it and see if people agree.

Watch the UCI Track Cycling Champions League LIVE from the Cido Arena, Panevėžys, Lithuania on discovery+ (selected markets), Eurosport and GCN+ from 18:00 CET on Saturday 27 November.