May 11/17 8:59 am - Milton to Host First UCI World Cup

Posted by Editoress on 05/11/17
 

It's Official:  Track World Cup Comes to Milton

It has been an open secret for months that Canada will be getting a Track World Cup at the Milton velodrome for the coming season, but the official confirmation has had to wait for the UCI to finalize negotiations with Cycling Canada and get the rest of the schedule lined up.  Now, it is finally official - Canada will host the third round of the 2017-18 UCI Track World Cup at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, on December 1-3, 2017.   This is the first event in a three year sanction. The first two rounds of the coming season will take place in Europe (Pruszkow, Poland and Manchester, UK), followed by Milton and finishing in Santiago, Chile.

The full release:

Cycling Canada is pleased to announce that it has been selected by the International Cycling Union (UCI) to host a leg of the Tissot UCI Track World Cup in each of the next three years. Beginning in 2017-18, and extending through the 2018-19 and 2019-20 track cycling seasons, the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ontario, will play host to over 300 of the top cyclists in the world. The Tissot UCI World Cup is the highest international level of track cycling competition and is a critical component of the qualification process for the Olympic Games and for the UCI World Championships.

The first event in the three year commitment is scheduled for December 1-3, 2017. The event will feature 5 sessions of racing over three days (1 on Friday and 2 sessions per day on the weekend). Also planned as part of the World Cup festivities will be an innovative corporate relay fundraising challenge, which will give corporate and club teams the chance to test themselves on the velodrome track alongside some of Canada's top cycling celebrities. The event will raise funds for Cycling Canada's National Team program.

"Milton is thrilled to host the Tissot UCI Track World Cup in partnership with Cycling Canada," said Milton Mayor Gord Krantz. "The Mattamy National Cycling Centre is home to Canadian cycling and is a hub for high-performance sport in our community."

"Cycling Canada is excited to work with the Town of Milton to host the Tissot UCI Track World Cup over the next three years. This event is one of only six in the world every year [note: the UCI has since announced four so far for the coming season] and for the UCI to trust both Cycling Canada and Milton shows great vision on their part and demonstrates their understanding of the quality of both of our entities," commented Pierre Lafontaine, CEO of Cycling Canada.

The Mattamy National Cycling Centre, built to host the track events at the 2015 Pan Am Games, is a Category 1 homologated velodrome, and one of only two velodromes in North America that meets the requirements to host World Cup-level competitions.

John Tolkamp, Cycling Canada's President, stated, "The Milton World Cup will be Canada's first UCI Track World Cup since 1989. More than just a high performance event, the World Cup is an incredible show for spectators and a unique opportunity to engage the community with the hosting of a world class event. We are excited for our National Team athletes who will have the opportunity to perform at home in this state-of-the-art facility."

Event details and ticket information will be announced later this year.