A horrendous crash involving Katy Marchant and Alessa-Catriona Pröpster brought the final night of UCI Track Champions League action to an abrupt halt.
Entering the final lap of heat two of the women’s keirin first round, the two riders appeared to lock up with each other. Their combined momentum carried the pair up the track, and over the top of the brand new perspex safety screens – added to improve safety in the wake of a similar incident at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Pröpster was able to walk away soon after, but Marchant required lengthy treatment. A number of spectators seated also required medical attention.
Eurosport’s Adam Blythe reported from track centre, shortly before the live broadcast was ended, saying that Marchant was ‘ok, she’s got a broken forearm, but she seems to be in a stable condition.’ The spectators were also said to be ‘ok’.
In a statement quoted by Cycling Weekly, British Cycling said: ‘Following a crash in this evening’s women’s keirin semi-final, Katy Marchant has been treated by on-site medical staff and will be taken to hospital for further assessment and any required treatment. We send our best wishes to the riders and spectators involved in the incident and will provide a further update as soon as we can.’
Racing was cancelled around half an hour after the incident.
A statement from the UCI, posted on Instagram, confirmed that ‘two riders and four spectators received medical treatment… The event medics responded immediately, with one rider transferred to hospital. WBD Sports, British Cycling, Lee Valley VeloPark, and the UCI unanimously decided to suspend all further racing for the evening and want to extend their best wishes for a speedy recovery to both riders and all affected spectators.
‘We are working closely with all parties to review the incident before taking appropriate action. No further comments will be made at this time.’
The women’s overall competitions for the year had already been resolved: Alina Lysenko was second to home favourite Emma Finucane in the sprint competition, enough to give the Individual Neutral Athlete the win in the sprint classification, and Katie Archibald‘s early win in the scratch had confirmed her third endurance title in the League’s fourth year.
The men’s events were technically unresolved. But Dylan Bibic only needed to avoid an immediate elimination in the final race to retain the endurance title he won in 2023; and Harrie Lavreysen‘s win in the sprint gave him a 20-point lead over Matthew Richardson, all but confirming his retention of the sprint championship.
The 1.4 metre-tall safety barriers were added to the Lee Valley track in August 2024, at a cost of £250,000, in response to an incident during a qualifying heat in the men’s scratch race at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. England’s Matt Walls was forced over the railing into the spectator seating; Canada’s Derek Gee narrowly avoided doing likewise.
The UCI had reportedly been consulted in the design of the new barriers. New rules will require similar barriers to be installed on all new velodromes; but clearly, more work needs to be done.
