TENSIONS RISE IN THE FINAL EPISODE OF BACK ON TRACK

On a night of close finishes and intense rivalries, fellow rider Kelland O’Brien visits Mora in the track center immediately afterwards to give his thoughts in the heat of the moment. “That was your fault, no buts”, shouts the Australian over the roaring crowd as Mora protests, “[just give] a few more millimeters”. 

In the final episode of the series, Mora and O’Brien aren’t the only riders at odds with each other. Compatriots and close teammates Emma Hinze and Lea Sophie Friedrich reveal how their friendship is quickly forgotten on the track when just two points separate them in the standings. “We were both in the same box, warming up at the same time. We went to the start line together but we didn’t talk at all. Somehow for me, it doesn’t matter who your rival is at that moment. All that matters is winning.” says Hinze. 

The steely determination of Hinze is not lost on other riders either. Fellow series champion Gavin Hoover adds “I would not want to race her, that’s all I would say. You can just see the intensity in her eyes when she’s walking around. She wants to win, and she’ll go hard for it.”

Away from the rivalries, episode five also focuses on the retirements of several big name riders as they compete in the last race of their careers. Annette Edmondson, Kirsten Wild and Ed Clancy all speak to the camera and reflect on their time in track cycling.

Viewers are also treated to a moment-by-moment breakdown by Katie Archibald of the series’ final Elimination race that brought the crowd to its feet, giving an insight into the mind of the supremely dominant series champion. 

As the series draws to a close, Archibald looks back to round one and considers the potential for the new league to change the sport: “In the Mallorca round, we all sat down for a rider briefing and we had this really rousing speech from the head of Discovery Sports Events about how much they were backing track cycling. It gave me goosebumps. It’s my career, and to have somebody say ‘we think the world cares about this’ is nice… it’s really more than nice.”

The fifth episode of the series will be broadcast on the Eurosport App and GCN+ on May 2nd and is available on discovery+*

Back on Track was produced by Discovery Sports Events in partnership with Pap's.

Season two of the UCI Track Cycling Champions League is set to return in Autumn 2022. 

*Back on Track is available to watch on discovery+ in Denmark, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom and Ireland.

To find out more information about the UCI Track Champions League, visit www.ucitrackchampionsleague.com.