NEW DELHI: Cycling Federation of India today announced the hosting of 41st Senior, 28th Junior, and 10th Para Track Cycling Championship in IG Indoor Stadium, New Delhi from June 18 to 22. This event was earlier proposed for the month of February 2022 but due to the pandemic and with the approval of the Asian Cycling Confederation this has now been scheduled from June 18 to 22.
The event will be held at the state of Art Indoor Cycling Velodrome the legacy of the Commonwealth Games 2010. This event will be held under the aegis of ACC and has been approved by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and is being supported by the Sports Authority of India.
The jersey and kit for Indian Cycling Team was also unveiled today during the Press Conference. After the conference, Indian Cyclists along with officials of Cycling Federation of India pedalled the cycling from Sansad Bhawan to IG Indoor Stadium.
The Asia’s biggest Cycling Event will witness nearly 500 riders from 20 countries in all the sections of Men Elite, Women Elite, Men Junior, and Women Junior. The championship will be held after a span of two and a half years and the last edition was organized by Korean Cycling Federation at Jincheon, Korea in October 2019. There will be a record number of participants because it’s the first Track Continental Championship after the pandemic and secondly this will be the first step towards the qualification for the Paris Olympics 2024. The points gained by the riders will add to their ranking which ultimately will matter for the World Championship and thereafter the ranking will start the Olympics qualification process in 2023.
The leading Cycling nations China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, and Iran have already confirmed their participation. The top World riders from China, Korea, Hong Kong, and Malaysia will be also vying for the top continental honors. Among the top riders, we will see Ms. Lee Wai Sze, the wonder woman from Hong Kong who at the age of 35 will be ruling the Track. She is the bronze medalist in the Tokyo Olympics while Ms. Shanju Bao of China is the silver medalist in the same Olympics. Besides that, the formidable
Indian team, which was ranked No. 1 in the World as junior and has graduated into seniors, will be led by none other than the World No. 01 Junior Keirin Sprint and team sprint Mr. Esow from Andaman and Nicobar Island. While the other World No. 01 Mr. Ronaldo in junior will also be testing his skills in its first Continental Championship of their career as seniors. The Indian team sprint which was World as No. 1 in juniors will also be trying their luck with the top Asian riders. Not only in the sprinting events, India will also field a strong endurance team led by Mr. Vishwajit Singh who has been performing extremely well in pursuit and has been breaking records at the National level and is India’s future hope in the endurance events, He will also be part of the Indian team pursuit which will challenge the Asian riders.
All in all a strong team with 42 riders in Men Elite, Men Junior, Women Elite and Women Junior will be part of the strong 56 members contingent which includes two senior coaches Mr. R.K Sharma and Mr. V.N Singh chief coaches of sprinting and endurance respectively. The Indian team is expected to put up a strong show and possibly the best ever performance at the Asian level.
There are four countries including India which have entered their team for the Para events also. The other three teams are Japan, Iran, and Thailand who will also compete in the various para events in different categories.
The five days events will also have a few prominent guests for the event namely, Mr. Osama Al Shafar, President, Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) and Vice President of the International Cycling Union (UCI), and Executive Member of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). Among other Presidents and Secretaries of various Federations Mr. Raja Sapto Octohari, President, National Olympic Committee (NOC), Indonesia, and Senior Vice President, Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC), and other prominent sports administrators from International Federation and IOA will be the guest of honors.