The UCI Track Champions League, four years into an eight-year partnership with the company now known as Warner Bros Discovery Sports, is dead.

It was introduced in 2021 as ‘a new chapter in the history of track cycling, set to elevate the sport to a new level of global prestige’.

But a statement posted on the event’s website now confirms that ‘the UCI Track Champions League was held for the last time in 2024’, citing ‘the decision of WBD Sports to redefine its involvement in the promotion of track cycling’.

The statement continues: ‘In this context, from 2026, the UCI Track Nations Cup will be renamed the UCI Track World Cup… (and) will consist of three rounds’ – although we can’t avoid noting, the Track Nations Cup was meant to consist of three rounds, but only managed to deliver one this year, in a largely empty arena.

Retreat

It’s hard to view this as anything other than a retreat by WBD: they claim to be ‘delighted to continue (their) partnership with the UCI, broadcasting world-class men’s and women’s action from the velodromes, such as the UCI Track World Cup for the first time’. But really, in terms of track cycling coverage, that’s the bare minimum one could expect.

And without WBD’s backing, the UCI clearly doesn’t believe it can support the competition on its own. So it retreats to a minimal international racing calendar, barely enough to defend potential challenges to track cycling’s status as an Olympic sport.

We knew changes were coming, but we didn’t see this coming.

Spectacular

The Track Champions League, launched by James Pope – now CEO of DerbyWheel, was created to be different. A spectacular evening of racing, adapted and packaged for television, with a developing narrative over the course of each season. London’s consistent sellout crowds were the exception rather than the rule, but attendances definitely seemed to be trending upwards. It looked like the future, literally.

But in the wake of this news, the immediate future of UCI-backed track cycling – particularly for sprinters, who don’t have the safety net of a possible road career – looks very thin indeed.

‘A real shame’

‘While this isn’t entirely unexpected, it’s still a real shame for track cycling,’ Pope wrote on LinkedIn a few hours after the news broke. ‘I still believe in the vision behind the concept – the sport needed innovation, and TCL brought a fresh format and presentation to the track. But the reality is that one event alone couldn’t solve the broader challenges within the track cycling ecosystem.

‘That said, I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved. We redefined the live event experience, brought track cycling to new audiences, and created moments that will stay with me forever. Grateful to have been part of it and to everyone who made it happen.

‘So where does track cycling go from here? I’ll share my thoughts on that separately…’ We’re looking forward to it.