RACE PREVIEW: UEC EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS TRACK CYCLING APELDOORN, THE NETHERLANDS

The track season is finally starting for our track team. At the European Championships our riders will start their journey towards the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. BEAT riders Roy van den Berg, Theo Bos, Matthijs Büchli, Laurine van Riessen and Nicky Degrendele will represent their national teams during the tournament.

The tournament will be kicked off on Wednesday, when the Dutch national team rides the team sprint. Roy van den Berg and Matthijs Büchli have been selected to ride the team sprint for the Netherlands. For van den Berg, this means that he can defend his European title. Büchli was not a part of the 2018 team, but he is the reigning world champion as a member of the Dutch squad during the World Championschips. The Dutch team is the main title contender in this event.

In addition to the battle for the European title, there's also a competition going on within the Dutch team. Matthijs explains: "only three Dutch riders can be a part of the Olympic team. There are currently five world class riders fighting for these spots. The European Championships in itself is obviously a big goal, but it's also very important to prove ourselves in order to have a chance to participate at the Olympic Games. In the end, the main goal is to be part of the Olympic Team and fight for the gold medal in Tokyo."

Throughout Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Laurine van Riessen and Nicky Degrendele will conquer the sprint and keirin events. Their tournament will start with the qualification rounds for the sprint event on Thursday. If they manage to reach the semi-finals, they will be entering the track again on Friday. Both riders have won several national titles in the sprint and will now try to win their first continental medal. On Saturday they will start the keirin tournament as title candidates. Both riders have previously managed to win World Cup events in the keirin and Degrendele is obviously the former World Champion.

Büchli will also ride the keirin event on Saturday. It is a special event for him: "It'll be my first keirin race in the rainbow jersey. I don't really know what to expect for the tournament. It's the first race of the season so I'm lacking some competition rythm. My form is better than it usually is at this point in the season so I hope it'll be enough to propperly showcase the jersey."

Theo Bos will be the final BEAT rider in the event when he competes in the kilometer time trial on Sunday. He will try to follow up on his silver medal at the 2019 World Championships with a new podium spot.