RACE PREVIEW: TISSOT UCI TRACK CYCLING WORLD CUP HONG KONG

A couple of weeks after the succesful World Cup weekends in Minsk and Glasgow, Roy van den Berg, Laurine van Riessen, Matthijs Büchli and Nicky Degrendele are now preparing for their final World Cup tournament before the Olympic Games. Büchli, Van Riessen and Degrendele will ride the sprint and keirin events on Saturday and Sunday. Van den Berg will join the Dutch national team on Friday for the team sprint.

Büchli uses the event as his final chance to experiment with tactics and material: “In the keirin event on saturday I will try some different tactics and gears. This is the final World Cup I am riding before the world championships and the Olympic Games so I want to take the final chance to do this. I obviously want to win the keirin event as well. I have not won a keirin tournament as a reigning world champion yet, so it is time to take the victory right now.”

“The sprint tournament on Sunday is mainly a training opportunity for me. I want to experiment with some gear setups again. I obviously hope to ride a strong qualification and after that a great tournament but I mainly aim for a tough day on the track. After the weekend I will enjoy a couple of rest days so I want to empty the tank before that. After the rest days I am going to build up my form again and work towards the world championships and the Olympic Games.”

Van Riessen and Degrendele will also join the track on Saturday and Sunday when they ride the sprint and keirin tournament. Van Riessen will do this in the BEAT colours, Degrendele joins the Belgian national team. Van den Berg joins the Dutch national squad on Friday for the team sprint event.