Discovery channels such as Eurosport will give the league exposure
Discovery and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) have partnered to promote the Track Cycling World League, which will get underway in 2021.
Signed at the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Berlin, the agreement will mean that the management, TV production and distribution of the league will be taken care of by Global Cycling Network (GCN) in collaboration with Eurosport Events.
This will be for an initial eight years, and also means that Discovery channels and platforms – including Eurosport – will give international exposure to the competition.
The new UCI event will have a short, dynamic format tailored for TV and aims to open up the sport to new audiences.
Starting in November 2021, the league will run until February 2022 and involve the nine best-placed riders in the sprint and keirin as well as all medallists of bunch races from the 2021 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
The contestants will wear jerseys inspired by their national flags or if they’re a world champion in their recently-won rainbow shirts. Riders will compete for prize pots on top of their participation bonus, and can qualify by name for the UCI World Championships if they come in the top three and their nation doesn’t qualify.
UCI president David Lappartient said of the partnership: “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.”
Eurosport and Global Sports Rights & Sports Marketing Solutions, Andrew Georgiou, added: “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.”