UCI Track World Championships Wednesday 16 October – Sunday 20 October, Ballerup-Copenhagen, Denmark
A couple of months after the Olympics, some of the best track riders in the world will return to the boards to compete for rainbow bands at the UCI Track World Championships in Copenhagen this week.
Not all of the stars of Paris will be present in Denmark, with this coming at the end of a taxing season, but many still will be, from Chloé Dygert to Harrie Lavreysen via Emma Finucane. There will also be some other top racers to watch out for, like the returning Katie Archibald and road world champion Lotte Kopecky.
There are more races at the World Championships compared to the Olympics, with familiar events like the keirin and the Omnium joined by the individual pursuit and the time trial, to name a few. This is the Track Worlds back in its usual position in autumn, following last year's super-Worlds in Glasgow, which took place in August.
Here is our guide to five days of action in Copenhagen (technically, Ballerup). Keep up to date with the racing with us, as we report from on the ground.
Five things to watch out for
Bigham’s last dance
One of cycling’s great stories will reach its finale in Ballerup, as Dan Bigham calls time on his career with the national squad. The 33-year-old, a self-made amateur turned Olympian, will take on the individual pursuit in Denmark, having missed out on the world title by five hundredths of a second to Italy’s Filippo Ganna last year. Following the championships, Bigham will “fully dedicate” himself to his new role as the head of engineering at WorldTour team Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
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Archibald’s return
The absence of double gold medallist Katie Archibald was felt at the Olympics in Paris this summer. The Scot broke her leg just a month before the Games, having tripped innocuously on a step in her garden, and missed her Madison defence. Archibald has since been resting and rehabilitating, and now says she’s “ready to race” after the fractures. “I’m thriving on the bike,” she wrote on Instagram. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Brits in Ballerup
An industrial suburb of Copenhagen, the town of Ballerup is generally unremarkable, but holds a special place in the memories of a number of prominent British cyclists. In 2002, Chris Hoy claimed his first world title at the velodrome, before going on to win 10 more throughout his career, and six Olympic gold medals. The last time the Track World Championships went to Ballerup was in 2010; that year, Hoy won the keirin, while Ed Clancy won the Omnium and Victoria Pendleton claimed gold in the sprint.
All eyes on the youngsters
The first World Championships after an Olympics often provide a springboard for young talent to emerge, as their more senior teammates enjoy an easing of pressure following a hectic Games cycle. Great Britain is taking most of its A-team to Ballerup this month, but keep an eye out for the duo of 20-year-old debutants in the squad: sprinter Harry Ledingham-Horn and Groupama-FDJ’s Noah Hobbs.
Victory laps
According to the provisional entry list, 13 of the gold medal winners from this year’s Olympics will compete in Denmark. Among them are sprinter Harrie Lavreysen, a triple champion in Paris and the Netherlands’ most successful summer Olympian, now three-time gold medallist Jennifer Valente (USA), and Italian Madison duo Chiara Consonni and Vittoria Guazzini. The others are: Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane (Great Britain), Chloé Dygert (USA), Jeffrey Hoogland, Roy van den Berg (Netherlands), Iúri Leitão, Rui Oliviera (Portugal) and Kelland O’Brien (Australia).
How to watch
The action from the Ballerup Super Arena will be broadcast live in the UK on BBC Two. Viewers can also watch on Eurosport, or online on Discovery Plus.
Focus on... Women's team sprint
(Image credit: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)
Not since 2008 has Great Britain’s women won the team sprint at the World Championships, but that could all change in Ballerup. The trio of Katy Marchant, Sophie Capewell and Emma Finucane go into the event as the clear favourites, having won the Olympic title with a new world record this year.
“I think naturally the intensity has dropped off a little bit [since Paris],” Marchant told CW, “but we’re still wanting to go to the World Championships and win at the end of the day.”
In Denmark, the British trio will be without their German rivals, winners of the last four world titles, whose A-team have opted to skip this year’s event. According to Marchant, she and her teammates now have a “golden opportunity” to win gold, but still have “absolutely nothing to lose”.
“We are Olympic champions and world record holders as it stands. That was the absolute focus, right from the start, when this project began,” she said. “Win or lose, that takes nothing away from what we achieved.”
Riders to watch
Emma Finucane (Great Britain) “I feel like she’s going to win loads of world titles,” Victoria Pendleton told CW of Emma Finucane at this year’s Olympics. She’s probably right, too; the 21-year-old from Carmarthen has made a hobby of medal hunting, becoming the first British woman in 60 years to win three at a single Olympics this summer.
Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) The Dutchman is considered the greatest track sprinter of all time, and he’s only 27. A former BMX rider, Harrie Lavreysen counts 13 track world titles and five Olympic gold medals, three of which he won in Paris. He’ll miss his biggest rival in Denmark, with Matthew Richardson ineligible for selection following his nationality swap to British.
Jennifer Valente (USA) With a calm head and a clinical racing style, Jennifer Valente is the rider to beat in the bunch events. The Californian comes to the competition having won two gold medals at the Paris Olympic, and is already a seven-time world champion. Can she win the Omnium for a third year in a row?
Lorena Wiebes (Netherlands) The SD-Worx Protime rider is best known for being the best female sprinter in the world, but she also packs a punch on the track; she has won nine national track titles throughout her career. This year’s Worlds will be her first, perhaps with an eye on riding in the velodrome at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
Noah Hobbs (Great Britain) Twenty-year-old Noah Hobbs is making his elite debut at the Track World Championships in Ballerup, competing in the elimination race and the scratch race, the event in which he became under-23 European champion in July. Road racing fans will know Hobbs for being part of Groupama-FDJ's development squad; he rode the Tour of Britain with the team last month, claiming two top-ten stage finishes.
Finals schedule
Wednesday 16 October
- Women's scratch race - Men's team sprint - Women's team sprint
Thursday 17 October
- Women's elimination race - Men's keirin - Men's scratch race - Men's team pursuit - Women's team pursuit
Friday 18 October
- Men's individual pursuit - Women's sprint - Men's time trial - Men's point race - Women's Omnium
Saturday 19 October
- Women's individual pursuit - Women's time trial - Men's Omnium - Women's Madison
Tom joined Cycling Weekly as a news and features writer in the summer of 2022, having previously contributed as a freelancer. He is the host of The TT Podcast, which covers both the men's and women's pelotons and has featured a number of prominent British riders.
An enthusiastic cyclist himself, Tom likes it most when the road goes uphill and actively seeks out double-figure gradients on his rides.
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