CYCLING Preview: 116th World Track Championships set in Poland

One of the oldest competitions in Olympic sport is the World Track Cycling Championships, which was first contested way back in 1893. Some 450 athletes from 49 countries are expected to compete in the 2019 edition in the Polish city of Pruszkow, also host of the event in 2009.

There are 20 events on the program, split evenly among men and women, starting on Wednesday and running through Sunday. The top performers in the 2018-19 World Cup figure to be among the favorites:

Men

Sprint:
1. Matthew Glaetzer (AUS)
2. Mateusz Rudyk (POL)
3. Jeffrey Hoogland (NED)

Team Sprint:
1. Netherlands
2. Poland
3. France

1,000 m Time Trial:
1. Joachim Eilers (GER)
2. Quentin Lafargue (FRA)
3. Theo Bos (NED)

Individual Pursuit:
(no World Cup races)

Team Pursuit:
1. Italy
2. Denmark
3. Great Britain

Keirin:
1. Matthijs Buchli (NED)
2. Hugo Barrette (CAN)
3. Theo Bos (NED)

Points Race:
1. Moritz Malcharek (GER)
2. Mark Stewart (GBR)
3. Christos Valikakis (GRE)

Scratch Race:
1. Vitaliy Hryniv (UKR)
2. Stefan Matzner (AUT)
3. Christos Volikakis (GRE)

Omnium:
1. Christos Volikakis (GRE)
2. Benjamin Thomas (FRA)
3. Raman Tsishkou (BLR)

Madison:
1. Denmark
2. Italy
3. Great Britain

Women:

Sprint:
1. Olena Starikova (UKR)
2. Wai Sze Lee (HKG)
3. Stephanie Morton (AUS)

Team Sprint:
1. Germany
2. Ukraine
3. Poland

500 m Time Trial:
1. Olena Starikova (UKR)
2. Miriam Welte (GER)
3. Daria Shmeleva (RUS)

Individual Pursuit:
(no World Cup races)

Team Pursuit:
1. Italy
2. Great Britain
3. New Zealand

Keirin:
1. Wai Sze Lee (HKG)
2. Stephanie Morton (AUS)
3. Laurine van Riessen (NED)

Points Race:
1. Maria Guilia Confalonieri (ITA)
2. Hanna Solovey (UKR)
3. Charlotte Becker (GER)

Scratch Race:
1. Martina Fidanza (ITA)
2. Lisa Kullmer (GER)
3. Aleksandra Goncharova (RUS)

Omnium:
1. Kirsten Wild (NED)
2. Allison Beveridge (CAN)
3. Lotte Kopecky (BEL)

Madison:
1. Great Britain
2. Italy
3. Russia

The U.S. won four medals at the 2018 Track Worlds, with Chloe Dygert winning the Pursuit, with Kelly Catlin third; Jennifer Valente won a silver in the Points Race and the team of Valente, Dygert, Catlin and Kim Geist won the Team Pursuit for the third straight time. Dygert, Catlin and Valente have been on all three of those teams, with Geist part of the last two.

NBC has the Track Cycling Worlds as part of its NBC Sports Gold pay-to-view program. Look for results here.