The UCI class 1 is a graded event, which in other words is
part of the Olympic qualifier whereby points attained by the cyclist will add
to the ranking of the individual and thus makes it more competitive and
interesting.
The first edition of this event hosted in India in 2014
saw the participation of four countries while this time the number has
considerably gone up to 10 countries and one continental team. Also, being the
host country, India
has decided to field two additional teams in this event to give more and more
exposure to young cyclists in the country. These two teams are SAINCA and CFI.
SAINCA is the cycling Academy being managed jointly by Sports Authority of
India and Cycling Federation of India at cycling velodrome, whereby mostly
junior cyclists from across the country are being trained.
The event will see total participation of thirteen
teams from 10 countries including one continental team i.e. Team ASTANA
has also made important entry. The ten countries are Kazakhstan ,
Hong Kong , Korea ,
Uzbekistan , Bangladesh , Thailand ,
Iran , UAE, Nepal and India . More than 150 cyclists from
different countries will compete in this event for the top honours.
Shri Onkar Singh, Secretary General, Cycling Federation
of India said, "The preparations are done for the Track Asia Cup and
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. Our Indian cyclists have
worked hard in preparing for this event and I am confident that they will
perform well in front of the home crowd. CFI is fully committed to
the development and promotion of the sport in India and that is the reason we
have decided to field our two additional academy teams in this event, so that
our cyclists can get more exposure while competing against top Asian
cyclists".
Mr. Frederick Chang of Hong Kong
has been appointed 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 watch
the live action will be free for all.
20 Member Indian team to compete in the Track Asia Cup
The 20 member strong Indian team will participate in this
event comprising of all the section of ME, WE, MJ and WJ to give
a tough competition to the world class teams of Korea ,
Kazakhstan , Iran and Hong Kong .
India's Deborah who had won several medals in the last two editions of Track
Asia Cup at Taiwan and Bangkok is all set to give tough competition to the
opponent teams while the Indian sprints boys and girls teams are also ready for
making historic wins this time.
Deborah a tsunami survivor from Andaman and Nicobar Islands has been showing consistent improvement
in timings. She has constantly being in the camp for the last two years after she
was picked up by the CFI as junior and has now risen to be ranked 10th in the
world in the time trial events in the very first year of her senior category.
This would not be out of place to mention that except Mexican cyclists who is
ranked 8th in the list. All the other ranked cyclists are much older to her.
The strong Indian junior contingent will also fight for
their place at the podium. Sahil Kumar who received Gold at the Asia Track Cup
in Bangkok is
the best bet in the junior boys while the team sprint team in the girls section
is also a great hope for the Indian side.
In all the performance of the Indian team under the able guidance
of the UCI’s qualified chief coach Mr. R.K Sharma will be quite commendable and
we look forward much better performance than from the previous years.
Photo caption: Cycling Federation of India office-bearers in New Delhi on November 16, 2015.
Press release
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