Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and Discovery have unveiled a new UCI Track Cycling World League which is set to debut in the 2021-2022 season.
Under the agreement, signed at the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships presented by Tissot in Berlin, Germany, the management, TV production and distribution of the new UCI series will be entrusted to Global Cycling Network (GCN).
The competition programme for the new UCI league features four events for men and women: individual sprint, keirin, elimination race and Scratch race. The inaugural season will run from November 2021 to February 2022, following the 2021 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, and will comprise a target of six rounds, each running for around two hours.
UCI President David Lappartient said “I am thrilled and delighted that Discovery will be by our side to help launch and promote our new UCI Track Cycling World League. Their expertise and recognised know-how in the fields of organisation and TV production and broadcasting will contribute significantly to the development and popular appeal of track cycling.
“With this new UCI circuit, the discipline will have a packed and attractive annual calendar that offers variety and will meet the expectations of new audiences while also appealing to existing cycling fans. Along with our new partner, we will grow the appeal of track cycling beyond the Olympic Games, where it has been on the programme since the very first Games of the modern era, in 1896.”
President, Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions, Andrew Georgiou, said: “We are excited to deepen our longstanding relationship with the UCI and go even further to grow the sport across Europe. Eurosport Events is an increasingly important strategic offer within our business, affording rights-holders the opportunity to build and strengthen their event portfolios globally.
“The partnership with the UCI demonstrates what the scale and expertise of the wider Discovery family can offer partners in sport, providing both highly localised content to the widest variety of audiences as well as offering unrivalled expertise, analysis and storytelling from the best experts.
Combining this strength in cycling with Eurosport Events’ promotional know-how and the global scale of Discovery’s channels and platforms, including Eurosport and GCN, we are confident we will build the UCI Track Cycling World League into a huge success. As Home of the Olympics in Europe, Discovery and Eurosport look forward to continuing to champion the riders who will be the stars of the velodrome all the way to Paris 2024.”
