A strong 29-member Indian team will participate in the third edition of Track Asia Cup 2016 from September 14 to 16 at the Indoor Cycling Velodrome at IG Sports Complex here.
The UCI class 1 graded even, to be hosted by the Cycling Federation of India (CFI) , is part of the World Championship qualifier where points attained by the cyclist will add to the ranking of the individual.
The second edition of this event hosted in India in 2015 saw the participation of 11 countries while this time 12 countries will participate including Pakistan.
Also, being the host country, India has decided to field one additional team 'SAINCA' in this event to give more and more exposure to young cyclists in the country.
SAINCA is the cycling academy being managed jointly by Sports Authority of India and CFI at World Cycling Satellite Centre in cycling velodrome, whereby mostly cyclists from across the globe are being trained.
The event will see total participation of 13 teams from 12 countries namely Pakistan, Iran, UAE, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Macau China, Malaysia and India. More than 150 cyclists from different countries will compete in this event for the top honours.
Onkar Singh, secretary general, CFI said, "We have already successfully conducted first and second edition of the event and this time most of the Indian junior cyclists are under top 10 in UCI World Ranking. This time junior men team is also ranked no 1 in world ranking. This shows the improvement of Indian cyclists and it happened due to the maximum exposure given to our cyclists after opening of SAINCA 'SAI National Cycling Academy' and World Cycling Satellite Centre in New Delhi.
"Our Star performer Deborah Herold is ranked 6th and Anu is ranked 8th in UCI world ranking and we are expecting a good show from them."
"We are expecting a spectacular event this time where in top Asian cyclists will be competing for the Olympic and World Cup qualifications. I would like to wish good luck to all the participants in this event."
He further informed that the championship is also very important for Indian cyclists as India and Bahrain will co-host Asian Track Cycling Championship in February 2017 where 31 countries will take part.
Karen O'Callaghan of Australia has been appointed as the Chief Commissiare of the event by the UCI (International Cycling Union) while other 30 Indian commissaries and technical officials will be officiating in this Asian Cycling extravaganza.
With the plan to attract more and more spectators to come and cheer the Indian cyclists, the federation has decided that entry to the velodrome for the event will be free for all.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
