Xinhua
15 Mar 2023, 09:00 GMT+10
CAIRO, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The second round of the 2023 International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Nations Cup began in Cairo on Tuesday with the participation of over 400 track cyclists from more than 50 countries and regions.
The Track Nations Cup, which runs from March 14 to 17, is the second of three competitions in 2023, with the first held in Jakarta, Indonesia in February.
The Cairo event is also a chance for participating athletes to progress in their bid to earn spots at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
"We have exerted big efforts in hosting this competition and we're keen to highlight that Egypt is capable of hosting such world championships," Mohamed Wagih Azzam, president of both the Egyptian Cycling Federation (ECF) and Confederation of African Cycling (CAC), told Xinhua.
The first day started with women's and men's team pursuit qualifying competitions. Of 15 teams competing in the women's team pursuit, New Zealand came top of the qualified eight, followed by France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Britain, Ireland and the United States.
"It's part of the qualifications for the Olympics. We're fighting for points in the team pursuit, team sprint, omnium and Madison competitions, hoping to gather points that would make us safe for the Olympics," said Peter Muller, Germany's team manager.
As for the 16 teams competing in the men's team pursuit, the first qualified eight were Denmark, New Zealand, France, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and Japan.
"This is a very important competition for us. We expect to achieve a good team pursuit result first so that we can get sufficient points for Paris 2024," said Swiss cyclist Mickael Bouget.
Get a daily dose of Irish Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Irish Sun.
More InformationEVERGLADES, Florida: Over the weekend, a diverse coalition of environmental activists, Native American leaders, and residents gathered...
BEIJING, China: China's national soccer team may struggle to stir excitement, but its humanoid robots are drawing cheers — and not...
]LONDON, U.K.: A World Health Organization (WHO) expert group investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic released its final...
DOVER, Delaware: California Governor Gavin Newsom has taken legal aim at Fox News, accusing the network of deliberately distorting...
FRANKFURT, Germany: Germany has become the latest country to challenge Chinese AI firm DeepSeek over its data practices, as pressure...
TORONTO, Canada: Harvard University and the University of Toronto have created a backup plan to ensure Harvard graduate students continue...
VILNIUS, Lithuania – A growing body of research suggests that selectively restricting a single nutrient in our diet could have profound...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Former government minister Mary Hanafin has confirmed she will seek the Fianna Fáil nomination to contest Ireland's...
FRANKFURT, Germany: Germany has become the latest country to challenge Chinese AI firm DeepSeek over its data practices, as pressure...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Ireland's EU Commissioner Michael McGrath has defended Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas over her recent comments...
SAN FRANCISCO, California: Under pressure from European regulators, Apple has revamped its App Store policies in the EU, introducing...
BONN, Germany: Despite widespread belt-tightening across the United Nations, nearly 200 countries agreed this week to increase the...