Third Round of the 2015-2016 UCI Track Cycling World Cup awarded to Hong Kong
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announced this week, for the first time, Hong Kong will host a round of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup on 16 and 17 January 2016.
Racing will take place at the Hong Kong Velodrome. The 250-meter track was inaugurated in December 2013 and has since hosted several international events such as the 2014 Hong Kong International Track Cup (a UCI class 1 event).
The venue is home to local hero Sarah Lee Wai-sze. The 27-year-old sprinter clinched a bronze medal in the Women’s Keirin at the London Olympics, handing Hong Kong its first ever Olympic medal in cycling. In 2013, Lee won the Women’s 500m Time Trial title at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Minsk, Belarus.
Hong Kong continues Asia’s longstanding commitment to host UCI World Cup rounds with Kunming and Beijing, both in China, Tokyo, Japan, and Astana, Kazakhstan having also welcomed our major international series.
The 2015-2016 UCI Track Cycling World Cup will comprise the following rounds:
Cali, Colombia, 30 October-1 November 2015 Cambridge, New Zealand, 5-6 December 2015 Hong Kong, 16-17 January 2016
The UCI Junior Track World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan (19-23 August 2015) and the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in London, Great Britain (2-6 March 2016) complete the UCI International Track calendar.
Commenting on the announcement UCI President Brian Cookson stated: “We are delighted to have reached an agreement with the Cycling Association Hong Kong for the hosting of the final leg of our series. Riders and teams can now embark on the 2015-2016 Track Cycling season which will visit four continents with action ultimately heating up in London at the UCI World Championships.”
Cycling Association of Hong Kong Chairman Hung-Tak Leung said: “Hosting the World Cup in Hong Kong will help promote track cycling in our community, so we can identify more talented riders systematically for high level performance training.”
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