UCI Track Champions League: Can Katie Archibald's rivals topple her in London? Laura Kenny offers them a few tips
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Published 03/12/2021 at 08:34 GMT
Though cancellation of the final round of the UCI Track Champions League, due to take place in Tel Aviv a week tomorrow has come as a disappointment, Laura Kenny sees a silver lining. "There's a lot more riding on these two days in London," she says "but then I think that's going to make it better”. She's also excited to return to her home velodrome. “The crowd is going to make it,” she promises.
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Aside from being the most decorated female British Olympian of all time, Laura Kenny is arguably best known for her engaging personality and optimistic disposition.
It should come as no big surprise then that with the announcement of the cancellation of the Tel Aviv round of the UCI Track Champions League, the track great is already looking on the bright side.
It means, she says, “there's a lot more riding on these two days in London, but then I think that's going to make it better.”
Proceedings were already expected to take on a somewhat different dynamic, with two rounds of racing already completed. Now it means there are no more opportunities for redemption once the curtain comes down on Saturday evening.
Kenny points out there’s also the factor of there being back-to-back evenings of racing. "If you go hard on one day, obviously you've got the next day where you might actually be feeling it a lot more.” On the other hand, riders who try to save themselves for Saturday might find they’ve left it too late...
Laura has kindly agreed to allow husband Jason the weekend off pundit duties, as she returns to the ring alongside Orla Chennaoui and Kristina Vogel.
The Lee Valley Velodrome - surely destined one day to be renamed the Laura Kenny Velodrome - is where she made her name at the London Olympics in 2012. No wonder she’s looking forward to it, and when she says it’s going to be a special occasion, she knows of what she speaks.
“The crowd is going to make it,” she promises. “Because it is so short and sharp, the crowd will really get behind it. That is normally what it's like there. The roof feels like it's coming off when people start cheering.”
That there are a couple of British riders not only racing but in contention for the top prizes won’t dampen the atmosphere either. More than in contention, in the case of Kenny’s madison partner, Katie Archibald.
Kenny speaks admiringly of how her friend and team-mate has performed so far.
“She obviously carried on her Olympic form to the World Championships, and then has obviously carried that on through. Doing what she did in the scratch race in Lithuania, attacking and then still going on to win the sprint, just shows how dominant she is at the minute.”
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‘Got it absolutely right!’ – Archibald makes amends for Mallorca with scratch race win
No one would expect Kenny not to have a favourite, but what advice, Eurosport asks, would she offer to one of Archibald’s rivals who hopes to have a chance of toppling her?
“I think you've got to try and catch her out,” she replies. “Although that’s easier said than done when someone is clearly on form. If you try and go early in a sprint, you've got to be able to keep that up, because you've got to put off ultimately what she is going to come with from behind.”
As an example of how it might be done, she offers up “the first scratch race in Mallorca, when that little group went away.”
“Kirsten [Wild] and Katie ended up just looking at each other to see who was going to bridge that move first, and then neither of them did."
They might stand a slightly better chance, now Archibald is comfortably out on her own, and unable to rely on any other rider to assist her in a potential catch. Still, Kenny doesn’t fancy their chances. “It's tough, isn't it?” she says. “It's a tough ask.”
Although the cream has largely risen to the top, with dominant performances from some of the other favourites, Harrie Lavreysen and Emma Hinze, the Track Champions League has still produced a few surprises. Or as Kenny says, “a few randoms who have actually proven to be really very good.”
It’s evidence, she says, “that the post-Olympic year is where you start to see new names coming through, where you see that next generation.”
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Rhys Britton
Image credit: SWPix
As an example of one who has used the competition as a springboard towards something of a breakthrough, Kenny points to her British Cycling colleague, Rhys Britton.
Her endorsement of Britton, who currently sits seventh in the men’s endurance standings, is not entirely without qualification. “I know he's not very good at elimination races,” she says, “and it is a bit of a running joke amongst the British Cycling under-23 men, because he is that bad at them, but I think his scratch races have been brilliant.”
Of the four competitions, Kenny points to the men’s endurance category as the one that’s been the most engaging. “It’s definitely the most open,” she says, “which is what I was hoping for within these leagues. That they would be tight, because I do think that makes it more interesting.”
Of the riders in contention to win that competition Kenny is picking the New Zealander to bounce back from his relatively poor performance in Lithuania.
“I'd like to see Corbin Strong [win it]. I shouldn't have favourites, should I, because we should be talking about everyone, but I think he rode the first one really very well. So maybe he can get that form back.”
Overall Kenny believes the UCI Track Champions League, now officially halfway through its first incarnation, has been a resounding success. She does, however, admit to having doubts about whether the limited format racing would prove enticing to the athletes. She asked herself: “Are people actually going to be up to that? Because it's only 20 laps and an elimination race. But then actually being there and experiencing it, I think it's been brilliant.”
Primarily, however, what makes the Champions League work is that “it's such an easy way for people who aren't that keen on track cycling. They don't watch the World Championships, European Championships. I think it's a really easy way for people to get into it. And it's really simple to explain to someone what the whole idea behind it is.”
Some would argue that the only thing that might have improved the competition would have been if Kenny herself (and Mr Kenny) had been competing.
“When I was in Mallorca, I did feel a bit like, 'Oh, I wish I was there.'” she says. “But then I just wouldn't have been fit enough. I wouldn't have been able to have the time with [son] Albie and training. I wouldn't have wanted to just turn up and be rubbish.”
After another glorious Olympic Games, from which she brought home another gold medal - and one that is “probably my favourite” - Kenny took some well-deserved time off, but has recently returned to the track.
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'Fabulous!' - GB's Kenny and Archibald 'strike gold' with madison triumph
“I've started riding again now,” she says, “but I'm going to start back slowly and then slowly work up. If I want to start racing again, I've got to go and get some points first to actually be able to compete at a Nations Cup, or one of those bigger events. But once I've got them then yeah, I'll be totally up for racing again.”
We’ll see her back here next year, then. Consider that a promise.
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The UCI Track Champions League returns for round three on December 3 and you can watch all of the action live on the Eurosport app, eurosport.co.uk and discovery+. Find out more about the "mind-blowing" new era for track cycling.
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