UCI Track Champions League 2023: Matthijs Buchli and William Tidball to join Katie Archibald in endurance list

Matthijs Buchli and reigning UCI world champion William Tidball are among the riders named on the men’s endurance list for the upcoming Track Champions League.

They will be joined by former rainbow jersey holders Theo Reinhardt (Germany), Quentin Lafarge (France) and Sebastian Mora (Spain) in the 18-man event.

Tidball adds to the British interest in the men’s endurance league, alongside Mark Stewart, while UCI world champion Katie Archibald, Sophie Lewis and Neah Evans have already been confirmed as three of the 18 competitors in the women’s division.

Swiss rider Claudio Imhof returns to defend his UCI Track Champions League men’s endurance title, and 2021 winner Gavin Hoover (United States) is also set to compete.

Four-time UCI world champion Buchli said: “I am looking forward to competing in my second UCI Track Champions League as the endurance events are short, explosive and fast, which suits my racing style.

“I feel like I’m stronger this time around as well, and I hope to be in good form as the roster is very impressive. It will be nice to race against the best riders in the world over the five rounds and I hope I can win some races.”

Reigning champion Imhof added: “I can’t wait to be back racing the UCI Track Champions League, with its incredible music, lightshow, and great supporters. It’s going to be difficult returning as defending champion and I don’t want to put any pressure on myself.

“Winning last year was one of the highlights of my career so far and the series is definitely taking track cycling to the next level.”

A total of 16 riders – six men and 10 women – are making their debuts at the event, including two-time European U23 Champion Lara Gillespie (Ireland), two-time European Junior champion Helene Hesters (Belgium), and the three-time Asian Games gold medallist Eyia Hashimoto (Japan).

There will be 19 countries represented across the men’s and women’s competitions, with Austrian (Maximilian Schmidbauer), Czech (Petra Sevcíkova) and Danish (Amalie Winther Olsen) riders taking part for the first time.

Great Britain are the most represented nation, with eight riders taking part: Katie Archibald, Neah Evans, Danni Khan, Sophie Lewis, William Perrett, Kate Richardson, Mark Stewart and William Tidball.

“I’m a huge fan of the UCI Track Champions League,” Lewis said.

“I competed in it for the first time last season and found it a lot of fun, racing against a high calibre of athletes, and the racing is certainly unpredictable. I love to travel and race my bike, which the series allows me to do, and as well obviously wanting to win, the back-to-back rounds will allow me to learn a lot. Gaining that experience makes you a better rider and enables you to perform better at other major events such as the UCI World Championships and the Olympic Games.”

• Round 1: Saturday October 21, Mallorca / Velòdrom Illes Balears, Spain
• Round 2: Saturday October 28, Berlin / Berlin Velodrom, Germany
• Round 3: Saturday November 4, St-Quentin-en-Yvelines / Velodrome National de St-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France
• Round 4: Friday November 10, London / Lee Valley VeloPark, UK
• Round 5 / Grand Finale: Saturday November 11, London / Lee Valley VeloPark, UK