Track Champions League wows London cycling fans and riders

Track Champions League at Lee Valley Velodrome (Photo: SWPix.com)

It had been billed as a top engagement on the cycling calendar, and had been talked about since when it was announced in the Spring of this year, so finally when the Track Champions League came to London's Lee Valley Velodrome everyone was pretty excited.

The fast and furious adrenaline-filled nature of track cycling tends to be a crowd puller, as you see at the Olympics for instance. Velodrome tickets always sell out first before other cycling disciplines. But this Track Champions League brought things to another level. 

The races were done as a league based on six races, each to be contested every week for six weeks. between November and December and in velodromes across different parts of Europe, including the Lee Valley (Olympic) Velodrome in London and the National Velodrome on the outskirts of Paris.

The short format races saw the World's top-ranked racers contest sprint, keirin, elimination and points races in rapid succession - which in itself was a challenge for the competitors who normally have long breaks in between races during a track meet.

Added to that were flashing lights, pumping sound system and animated commentators. Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend, due to illness. But from what I saw on the TV it looked pretty impressive. It seemed reminiscent of the old "Revolutions" series that used to take place in the autumn in velodromes around the UK, but on steroids!

What I noticed were the rather zany looking skinsuits that the athletes were wearing, which were designed by Santini, the Italian-based family sports clothing company. In fact, I wrote an article for the Santini website about the very tight process the company had in place in order to design the kit and have them ready for every one of the 72 riders.

The organisers of the event, Discovery Sports Events talked through what they wanted to achieve with this event. The idea, being to engage a wider audience to track cycling by making the format of the races easy to understand, and displaying athletes' performance data like what you see when watching Formula 1 on TV. Interestingly, the Head of Discovery Events, François Ribeiro, comes from a background of motorsport and bring some of those effects from Formula 1 to cycle racing. Funnily enough he also added that the effects that are being used in cycling, which are deemed revolutionary, were being used in motorsport twenty years ago. So, another reason for cycling critics to call it an old fashioned sport then!

The events went well, and wowed the sell-out crowds. Unfortunately, as has been the case with most sports events Covid-19 caused significant changes to the programme, with Paris, Berlin and Tel Aviv being removed from the rota as their velodromes were used as Covid-19 vaccination centres. Londoners were treated to two days of racing at Lee Valley.

Katie Archibald (SWPix.com)

In the sprinters' competition Harrie Lavreysen (Netherlands) won the men's race and Emma Hinze (Germany) won the women's race. For the endurance competition Britain's Katie Archibald was the winning woman while Gavin Hoover (USA) pipped the fancied Spain's Sebastian Mora to the post.  

When the race came to London I managed to get an interview with a couple of competitors, notably Ed Clancy, who was doing his last ever race as a professional, and Nicholas Paul, racing for Trinidad.

Ed Clancy:

"I honestly think track cycling has been crying out for something of this nature for a long time – I’m probably biased but, track cycling is a great thing. The racing is short, action packed and I feel like the Revolution races gave it a really good go, to try and bring a bit of entertainment to something I’ve been very passionate about. This is the same sort of thing, but with the backing of Eurosport and some big sponsors. I think it’s mint. The crowd are loving it. Everyone I’ve spoken to that’s seen it back home on TV have loved the format. I hope for the next generation, it’s going to be around for decades to come.

Ed Clancy (Photo: SWPix.com)

"When you’re an athlete for the Great Britain Cycling Team and you have that potential to win Olympic Gold medals that would have been your first and foremost priority. Wouldn’t it have been great to do something like this in what is now their off-season. I think it’s a great way for the riders not just to have fun and publicise themselves, but to make a decent living doing it as well. There’s decent prize money at the sharp end. I feel like it’s a scenario where everyone is winning. Hopefully the sponsor Eurosport are getting everything they want out of it; I know the spectators are and I believe the riders are having a good time as well."

Nicholas Paul:

"This is almost the end of my 2021 season, so I’m going into a break after until maybe January, just like road days something like that, and then I will be starting my preparation again back in Switzerland for the Nations Cup coming up, in the prospect of qualifying for the World Championships at the end of the year, and also they have the Commonwealth Games. 

"The Track Champions League is a big big change for track cycling. We are not accustomed to getting all this coverage, so I think it’s a step in the right direction for track cycling to let people know that it’s on the rise and it’s an exciting sport. I think that’s a step in the right direction, and the Track Champions League is doing a great job of raising the profile of track cycling.

Nicholas Paul (Photo: SWPix.com)

"For me, it’s always a pleasure to represent the red white and black to put my country out there. It’s a little island, so I think for me to be able to put it on the map and let people know that Trinidad & Tobago has great athletes and great talent, I think that’s always a great thing for me." 

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52 Cycling Voices - 23: Yewande Adesida

I first met Yewande at the London Nocturne about two years ago when she took part in the fixed gear race. She was riding for Velociposse at the time, and was enjoying her new adventure in cycle racing. Yewande has really made progress in her short time in cycle racing - taking a bronze medal at the sprint race at the British Universities and College Sports (BUCS)  track championships, competing in the National Track Cycling Championships. In between all that, she even found time to do some modelling for some big-name cycling brands after a recommendation from Ayesha McGowan, bike racer from across the pond.

Yewande Adesida, aged 25

From: London

Occupation: PhD Student at Imperial College, London

(Photo by SRAM)

I got into cycling properly when I stopped rowing about three years ago and then I thought about which sport to get into.  

I had been a rower for about six years and gone as far as I could, so wanted to find a sport that I was better suited to. 


I chose cycling. It wasn't completely new to me as it was part of my cross training when I was rowing, so I had done bits of it here and there.

I always knew I wanted to do track cycling so I worked on getting my accreditation at Herne Hill and the Lee Valley velodrome.  

There wasn't anyone in particular who inspired me to do more serious cycling. I always just knew that I wanted to compete and race so it was just about me getting to that point where I could do that. 

I took my time about which club to join. Then me and a friend heard about a women's racing team called Velociposse, which was looking for riders, so joined that one. They were very friendly and wanted to encourage more women into cycling. My team mate Eeva Sarlin was quite enthusiastic and encouraged me to have a go at fixed-gear racing. 

At the London Nocturne in 2017

The 2017 London Nocturne was my first crit race on a fixed-gear bike. I was a bit scared as there were a lot of sharp turns. 

I got dropped, but then I did what I could to try and get ahead of the group I was with. The race was interrupted due to crash and I also ended up hitting the barriers. I was okay, and am still really glad I did it, as the support from the other racers was great.

I raced for Velociposse until November last year, then joined a team called SES Racing, a mixed team that focuses on track sprinting and being competitive.

With them I went to the National Track Championships in Manchester at the start of this year, doing the sprint race and the keirin. Competing at the National Velodrome in Manchester for the first time was a really good experience and I really enjoyed it. It was also really tiring. I had never raced a keirin indoors before so it was nice to do well in that event and work on that for next year. All round I had a really good experience.

I finished 10^th overall in the Keirin. I was not expecting that at all, as I had raced four times, when normally I would only race twice, so it was really good.


I had done the individual sprint, which I normally do. I’ve raced that in competitions before, and I equalled my personal best in the flying 200m and came 13^th overall and was able to qualify for the match sprinting, even though I knew that that would be a tough.

I was probably a lot more nervous for the sprint because I had expectations for how I wanted to do, but I was less nervous for the Keirin because I was going into it to learn and have fun.

Yewande does some road racing too

I had been pretty nervous about racing at the Nationals with the top riders, but the people with me from my new club were really supportive, and really helpful. I don’t think I was as freaked out by the whole situation as I would have been this time last year. I have been working on my confidence, and my thoughts going into races in the past couple of months, and that has definitely helped.

I saw a sports psychologist that was available to me through university so I would go for a session every few weeks and it’s been really helpful so far.

My goals this year are to focus on sprinting and see what happens. The BUCS is my main target but I'm hoping to do well at the National Sprinters League too over the next few months. 

Before, I had been doing endurance races, but now I’m going to stick to sprint events. I will probably race on the road, but not as much as last year.

My season so far has been pretty quiet compared to last year because I've only been doing sprint events and I also had a hip injury. It was actually quite good to have a break from racing and focus on the rehabilitation stuff, but I'm back to full training now, which is good.

Things are quite busy these days because I juggle my cycle racing and training with coaching, as well as studying for a PhD in wearable technology in rowing. 

Living in West London means it takes a while to travel across London with my track bike to get to the Lee Valley Velopark in Stratford, but I am very motivated.

My most memorable day on a bike was probably last July when I won my first crit last year at a Full Gas summer series crit on the road circuit at Lee Valley. 

I had been racing for over a year and the closest I had come to winning was getting second place in a crit. The previous month I did a race at Cyclopark, Gravesend, and had been about to win it, but then I crashed and ended up in a ditch. So winning the Full Gas crit was a great feeling. 

When cycling, I never go out without Jelly Babies. I really like them. I think they’re not too sugary - or at least they don’t taste too sugary - so they are quite easy to like, and being quite soft they are easy to eat.

I think the British Cycling #OneInAMillion campaign is a good way of trying to increase the numbers of women doing cycling because it’s a great confidence booster and also a way to keep fit, and explore cycling. I definitely see the benefits of the campaign. If more people can experience cycling then it’s great.

Yewande (second row, right) with some women of colour who cycle

I think the Women of Colour cycling group set up by Jools Walker and Jenni Gwiadowski has been quite encouraging so far, too. At the first meet-up I’d never seen so many women of colour before, so it was nice to know that they existed. 

I think it sends out a really good message that there are other women of colour in the sport, and women of colour should not be afraid of getting into cycling because it shows that we exist. The group creates a positive environment for people to grow in the sport.

I have hardly seen other women like me doing cycle racing, and often I am the only woman of colour at a race. It was similar with rowing too. I used to feel uncomfortable about it, but I don't think about it so much now. Hopefully there will be more women of colour racing.



Getting to model for SRAM and Rapha was a real shock, but a pleasant one - especially with SRAM as I didn't expect to be featured. It was great to be involved with both campaigns and work with talented and enthusiastic people, and most importantly be a part of creating more representation in the bike industry - there have been lots of positive responses. 

Modelling for Rapha (Photo by Rapha)

It's hard to feel a part of a sport when you don't see people that look like you on a start line, in social media or in advertising, so to work with brands that are working to change this was such a great opportunity.

I would encourage more women to get into cycling because it’s great for boosting your confidence, learning a new skill, meeting different people, and getting to explore different places that you might not have gone to otherwise. And you get to eat lots of cake!

Instagram
@yewie_a

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One day one photo - 3

photo by UCI

Quite a few interesting results came through over the weekend from the world of cycle racing: Fabio Aru won the Vuelta a Espana. He has probably got nearer than anyone else this year to doing a grand tour double after having finished in second place at the Giro d'Italia in May. Edvald Boasson-Hagen won the Tour of Britain, making him the first person to win the stage race twice in its modern era. La Vuelta became the second of the grand tours to stage a women-only race on the final day of the competition. Yesterday's race held on the windswept roads of Madrid was won by Ale Cipollini rider, Shelley Olds. It was great to see all of these events on TV. Another American made history across the Atlantic, though this piece of history has gone somewhat under the radar though. A new Women's World Hour Record was set over the weekend by the Molly Shaffer Van Houweling at the velodrome in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Ever since Jens Voigt reignited the competition by breaking the hour record almost a year ago to the day, the quest has rolled on in earnest amongst the male gladiators of cycle sport. Things have been a lot quieter on the women's front however, with no one apart from Dame Sarah Storey attempting to break Leontien van Moorsel's 12-year old record. I rember that Saturday afternoon in February in a crowded velodrome at Lee Valley, London, watching in hope as Sarah battled her way around the track only to fall short of the 46.065km hour record by two laps. Meanwhile, in Mexico Van Houweling was beavering away in the background making her bid for perfect-hour glory by breaking the US Women's hour record.

The 42-year old law professor from the University of California, Berkeley, eventually broke the world hour record in July when she clocked 46.088km. However, this record could not stand as she had not been registered onto the biological passport programme for long enough for her time to qualify. But on Saturday night, all the stars were aligned for Molly Shaffer Van Houweling to put her day job behind her, take to the boards again - and clock 46.273km. Boom! Now I think that's worth writing about!

I don't imagine this will get the column inches that Bradley Wiggins had when he broke the record, but I do hope a few more people shout about it. I also hope that more women step forward - maybe Dame Sarah Storey will make another attempt, or maybe world time trial champion Lisa Brennauer will try it or even other home girls like Joanna Rowsell or Katie Archibald. It would be good to see the women's hour record chased with the same zeal as on the men's side.


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10 Sound bites from... Dame Sarah Storey

Sarah Storey made a gallant attempt to break the women's world hour record at the London Revolution Series in Lee Valley VeloPark last week.
Riding her black Ridley Arena speed machine during "the hardest hour of her life" the Pearl Izumi-Sports Tours International rider narrowly missed out on Leontien van Moorsel's 46.065km record from 2003.

Britain's most successful paralympian fell short when she rode 45.502km, however she did break the British women's record (previously held by Yvonne McGregor), the World Masters Age 35-39 record, and the C5 para-cycling record.

Here's what she had to say to the pack of media folks shortly afterwards:

"I emptied the tank and at the end I couldn’t have got any more out of myself."

"You’re just so thirsty and you can’t see because you are sweating into your visor.... you're trying to think logically, and not “Ahh I wanna stop!”

"I couldn’t have trained any harder. I’m the fittest and lightest I’ve ever been since I had Louisa."

"This particular time [to attempt the hour record] fitted in really well. Next year’s all about Rio. I guess you never ever say never but I don’t think I will ever do it again!"

"Records are there to be challenged. I’d love to see Lisa Brennauer [World time trial champion] or Sarah Hammer [World record holder over 3000m] try it."

"I still feel like I’ve got ants in my pants because I can’t move without jerking around. I’m just relieved to have done it!"

"Chris Boardman said it’s an event that should be respected and feared and there’s absolutely no doubt that I’ve both respected it and feared it."

"I always said I was going to come and do the very best I could and that’s exactly what’s happened."

The crowd was amazing and was really behind me. The last 10-15 minutes were incredible and it kept my mind off those horrible feelings in my legs."

"Completing the event teaches you a huge amount. We’ve taken marginal gains to the nth degree....and can apply them to what I’m going to be doing between now and Rio."


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One Day One Photo - 1

I normally have one month where I put in a photo of what I'm doing over a one month period. I should have started on 1st September, so apologies for the delay. (The missing 10 days will be included as well.)

Wednesday 10th September

So the dates of the Revolution Track Cycling series have been announced and the line-up, at least for the Lee Valley VeloPark London round on 24th/25th October, looks quite appealing. With the likes of Ed Clancy and Adam Blythe, plus my personal favourites, Laura Trott and Marianne Vos competing in this UCI points event it will make for an exciting couple of days of racing. I am particularly pleased to be able to get a media pass for the event. So I plan to do some reporting for Sportsister on-line magazine and any other outlet that wants me to! Media passes don't always come that easily - especially as I am not an employee of any particular media organisation so I always like to make the most of these opportunities. So, with a little luck and creativity I, and the people I interview will have interesting things to say over that weekend!