New Delhi: The Indian Cycling Federation (CFI) announced today that it will host the 3rd edition of Track Asia Cup 2016 during 14th -16th September 2016 at the Indoor Cycling Velodrome at IG Sports Complex in New Delhi.
The event which comes under the UCI class 1 grade events and is also the qualifier tournament for the World Championship is seen as one of the important event for the Asian Cyclists. The points attained by participant cyclists will add to their ranking which makes the tournament more competitive and interesting.
12 countries will participate in this version of the Asia Cup which includes Pakistan, Iran, UAE, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Macau China, Malaysia and India. More than 150 cyclists from these twelve countries will compete for the top honors. India is fielding an additional team ‘SAINCA’(Sports Authority of India National Cycling Academy; cycling Academy being managed jointly by Sports Authority of India and Cycling Federation of India at World Cycling Satellite Centre in cycling velodrome, whereby mostly cyclists from across the globe are being trained) in this event to allow as much international exposure to the young cyclists in the country.
Speaking about the event, Mr. Onkar Singh, Secretary General, Cycling Federation of India said, “We have already successfully conducted first and second edition of the event and this time most of the Indian Junior Cyclists are under top 10 in UCI World Ranking. This time Junior Men Team is also ranked no. 1 in World Ranking. This shows the improvement of Indian Cyclists and it happened due to the maximum exposure to our Indian Cyclists after opening of SAINCA ‘SAI National Cycling Academy’ & World Cycling Satellite Centre in New Delhi. Our Star performer Ms. Deborah Herold is ranked 6th and Ms. Anu is ranked 8th in UCI World Ranking and we are expecting a good show from them.”
Further speaking about the preparations, he said,”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.”
Wishing the participants, he added in the end, “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 one additional academy team in this event, so that our cyclists can get more exposure while competing against top Asian Cyclists”.
He further informed that this championship (Track Asia Cup) is also very important for Indian cyclists as India and Bahrain will co-host Asian Track Cycling Championship in February 2017 where 31 countries will take part.
Mrs. Karen O’Callaghan (Australia) has been appointed the Chief Commissiare of the event by the International Cycling Federation, UCI (International Cycling Union) while other 30 Indian commissaries and technical officials will be officiating in this Asian Cycling event.
To make the event more attractive for the spectators, it has been kept free admission for all, without any ticketing obligations.