-
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…
-
Jeong Jong-jin vs Im Chae-bin: Korean keirin’s biggest rivalry
Together they have dominated the Korean keirin scene for a decade. In the sometimes chaotic context of keirin, their records are remarkable: the few races they don’t win each year, they are usually second – and more often than not, second to each other. 2022 2023 2024 2025 Jeong Jong-jin 44 wins /48 58 wins…
-
Jong-jin wins latest clash of Korea’s keirin stars
Jeong Jong-jin bounced back from an uncharacteristic third-place in his semi final to win Sunday’s special final on the outdoor track at Busan, and retain the upper hand over his rival Im Chae-bin. The two riders have dominated the Korean scene for many years. Chae-bin won the country’s Grand Prix in December, his third in…
-
China dominates keirin at Asian track championships
China took gold and silver in both the men’s and women’s elite keirin events to continue their dominance of the 2026 Asian Track Cycling Championships, hosted at the Tagaytay velodrome in the Philippines. Chinese national champion Han Xie won the men’s event after a shaky start, requiring a repechage to make it through round one…
