With the test of the team pursuit in the women’s branch, the Track Cycling Nations Cup will begin this Thursday, July 7 at the Alcides Nieto Patiño Velodrome in the city of Cali, corresponding to the third of the stops of the event that organized by the International Cycling Union, and for which 38 countries signed up.

The Colombian track team, directed by John Jaime González, Jaime Zuluaga and Andrés Torres will be present at the event with 22 athletes, seven women and 15 men, who will try to revalidate the title they won last year, also in Cali.

World figures cheer the Cup of Nations

The event will feature great Olympic and world figures who will be competing in the Valle del Cauca capital. The biggest stars will be the Dutch Jeffrey Hoogland, Olympic champion and world champion in team sprint and kilometer champion, and Harrie Lavreysen, Olympic champion in team sprint and individual sprint, in addition to having nine world team sprint titles to his name. , individual speed and keirin, between 2018 and 2021. Likewise, the Netherlands will have the presence of the Olympic champion of keirin in Tokyo 2020, Shane Braspennick

Italy starts as the favorite to win this edition of the Nations Cup, in which they will have as big stars Letizia Paternoster (world elimination champion), Jonathan Milan, Francesco Lamon, Liam Bertazzo and Davide Plebani.

Joining the French team will be Mathilde Gros, bronze medalist at the Track Cycling World Championships in 2019 and winner of five medals at the European Championships between 2017 and 2021.

The United States national team will be led by Jennifer Valente, Olympic champion in the omnium and bronze in the team pursuit at Tokyo 2020, as well as silver in the team pursuit at Rio 2016, in which she holds four world titles. Joining Valente will be Colleen Gulick, John Croom and Mandy Marquardt, among others.

Also notable is the presence of Canadians Maggie Coles-Lyster, Ngaire Barraclough and Mathias Guillemete; New Zealanders Sam Webster, Ellese Andrews and Michaela Drummond, and Mexicans Jessica Salazar, Luz Daniela Gaxiola and Victoria Velasco.

The countries registered for the Cali 2022 Nations Cup are: Germany, Argentina, Algeria, Armenia, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United States, France, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Peru, Romania, Suriname, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. There will also be the professional teams: Women Track Team, Beat Cycling, Star Track Cycling and Chaney Windows And Doors.

With information from Fedeciclismo