Discovery and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) have launched a new UCI Track Cycling World League for the 2021-22 season.
Management, production and distribution of the new series will be handled by the Global Cycling Network (GCN), in collaboration with Eurosport, for an initial term of eight years.
The league features four events for men and women: individual sprint, keirin, elimination race and Scratch race. The inaugural season will run from November 2021 to February 2022, comprising a target of six rounds, each running for around two hours.
UCI president David Lappartient said: “I am thrilled and delighted that Discovery will be by our side to help launch and promote our new UCI Track Cycling World League. Their expertise and recognised know-how in the fields of organisation and TV production and broadcasting will contribute significantly to the development and popular appeal of track cycling.
“With this new UCI circuit, the discipline will have a packed and attractive annual calendar that offers variety and will meet the expectations of new audiences while also appealing to existing cycling fans. Along with our new partner, we will grow the appeal of track cycling beyond the Olympic Games, where it has been on the programme since the very first Games of the modern era, in 1896.”
