-
Foreign riders will face veterans and future stars in first Japanese races
We now have a little more detail of what awaits the international stars invited to race in Japan this summer, in the Keirin World Series. Provisional start lists for the first two events in the series have been published – revealing, somewhat unexpectedly, that we will not see all six foreign guests at all the…
-
Sato’s cheque for All Girls win is 100x more than Wang’s UCI prize
One rider notably absent from the UCI’s Track World Cup in Nilai was the organisation’s world champion, Mina Sato. She opted to stay at home, and defend her All Girls Classic G1 title, her seventh G1 title in all – and a continuation of her streak in the sport’s top-graded events. Sato’s recent record in…
-
China’s spring roll continues as Wang wins in Nilai
Wang Lijuan claimed the win in the women’s keirin in Nilai, adding another gold medal to the Chinese sprint squad’s recent haul. The 23 year old, fourth in both previous rounds of the Track World Cup, won her two early rides on the day; but could only manage third in her semi final behind Emma…
-
Fairytale home farewell for the Pocket Rocketman 🎥
Malaysian master Azizulhasni Awang delivered the performance his fans so desperately wanted, winning the men’s keirin in his final major racing appearance on home soil before his (supposed) retirement at the end of this season. Much of the build-up this week had focused on the mutual respect, and the likely duel, between the winners of…
-
How many riders line up at each National Championship?
In several Global Keirin articles lately, we have reflected on the relative strengths and weaknesses of different countries. Some boast dozens of international-class riders; some literally only have one. So we wondered… how many riders show up at each country’s National Championships? The necessary data is – or certainly should be – published in Dataride,…
-
New names top the UCI world sprint rankings
It’s all change at the top of the UCI world sprint rankings this week: but the new World Number Ones probably aren’t the riders you are expecting – and you probably don’t know who they replaced. The UCI consolidated its rankings into Sprint and Endurance at the start of 2025, replacing classifications for individual events.…
-
Huge field stands between Awang and the perfect goodbye
Azizulhasni Awang says he is ‘super excited’ to welcome the world’s best to Malaysia for the third round of the UCI Track World Cup – and his final race in front of a home crowd. ‘Harrie Lavreysen performed really well in Hong Kong,’ he told a press conference, ‘and that has made me even more…
-
Gent’s International Meeting exposes sprint’s challenge
With many of the biggest stars competing on the other side of the world, Jeffrey Hoogland and Lowie Nulens were the standout names at the Gent’s annual International Belgian Track Meeting. Nulens won the keirin at the same event last year; and looked in good form to retain the title today, winning both races on…
-
Yuan delivers more Chinese success in Hong Kong keirin
The resurgence of Chinese sprinting under head coach Benoît Vêtu continued in Hong Kong, with victory for Yuan Liying in the women’s keirin event at the second round of the UCI Track World Cup. The former flying 200 world record holder, who turned 21 earlier in the week, went unbeaten on the day – just…
-
Lavreysen back on top at Track World Cup in Hong Kong
World champion Harrie Lavreysen decisively reclaimed the top step of the podium as the UCI’s 2026 Track World Cup resumed in Hong Kong. He powered to victory with a lead of more than a third of a second – a lot by elite standards – to Kaiya Ota in second, and Shinji Nakano just behind…
-
Kiriltsev finishes on foot to progress at Hong Kong 🎥
Harrie Lavreysen won the men’s keirin event at the Track World Cup today, but we have to highlight the heroic effort by individual neutral athlete Nikita Kiriltsev in the first round repechage. (And we found video of the drama – see below!) Within moments of Tom Derache taking the front, there was a crash behind,…
-
Japanese keirin betting grew another 16% this year
Latest data published by the Japan Keirin Autorace Foundation (JKA) reveals that the recent growth of keirin gambling in Japan has continued for another year. Betting turnover in the year to March 31, 2026 totalled 1.548 trillion yen – US$ 9.77 billion, or GB£ 7.33 billion, up 16.6% on the 2025 figure. This total includes…
