UCI Track Champions League 2023: Switzerland’s Claudio Imhof on his title defence: “There are 17 rivals this year.”
No rider is more excited for the Track Champions League to get started than reigning men’s endurance champion, Claudio Imhof.
“Last year was out of this world, what I was able to experience,” he tells Eurosport, ahead of the opening round in Mallorca. “I’ve been waiting all year to get back to the Champions League.”
The Swiss star is one of several riders to have competed in every series since it began in 2021.
“It gets more special every year,” Imhof says.
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The blue jersey, which Imhof only secured by coming second in the final race of the evening in London “was the most special victory of my career,” and provides him with daily inspiration:
“On days when I’m not so motivated or not smiling in the velodrome, I look back on those races and it makes my day.”
He denies, however, that having won the overall victory once means there is more expectation of him than before. The opposite, in fact:
“Somehow I have already won it so I can say I don’t have a lot of pressure to perform.”
Instead, he says, “I want to race the same instinctive way I have always raced,” adding that “my main goal is to enjoy this brilliant format of racing. The crowd, the lights, the music.”
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Which doesn’t mean he won’t be giving his all, across all five rounds of competition, starting tomorrow night in Palma, Mallorca.
For obvious reasons, many will see Imhof as the rider to beat in the men’s endurance competition but, he says, “I don’t see myself as the favourite. Everyone is at zero, and we go again.”
Asked who he sees as his main challenger, Imhof won’t name names:
“I think there is not one rival, there are 17 rivals this year. If you look at the riders list almost everyone can win. We’ll be racing at a really high level.”
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“The scratch is quite a bit of a lottery sometimes,” he says. “You’ve got one shot and if it’s not in the right moment, your race is pretty much over. In the elimination race you can make some small mistakes and get through it and at the end, most of the time it’s the man with the biggest engine who is still in the race.”
Three second places and a third last year tells you he’s something of a master of the discipline but he’s happiest on the track, regardless of the event.
“Every time I enter a velodrome I’m in love,” the 33 year-old concludes with a smile. “That’s why I’m still competing.”
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