Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand celebrating after their victory in the Women Elite Keirin Final Photo: Charlie Forgham-Bailey/SWpix.com
World champion sprinter Ellesse Andrews will have an opportunity to test out the track for next year's Paris Olympics as part of the UCI Track Champions League.
The League, in its third year, is a development from the UCI, comprising a select number of elite riders for a series of one-off exhibition events over four weeks in Europe.
While there are no major honours at stake, when there are several Olympic and world champions competing in front of packed velodromes, with exciting formats, televised live with useful prizemoney up for grabs, there is plenty of incentive to perform.
The series has been designed to reinvigorate track cycling, creating an innovative new format to engage fans and create a new economic model to help develop the sport.
Andrews will join fellow Cycling New Zealand sprinters Sam Dakin and Callum Saunders in the sprint field, while Emma Cumming, now focussing on endurance, having her second year in the competition.
They are among 36 sprinters and 36 endurance men and women to contest the opening round this weekend in Mallorca, to be followed in successive weekends in Berlin, Paris and a final double -header in London, where the final night is already booked out.
Cycling New Zealand sprint coach Jon Andrews said there are only a handful of competitions each year where they can race competitively against other nations.
"It's the Nations Cups, Oceania Champs and World Champs. They are all key events as well, so not really the time to try out tactics in the heat of battle.
"This is an awesome opportunity for our riders to get some experience with tactics and racecraft against many of the riders who will be in Paris next year and get a final opportunity to race and train again on the velodrome for the Paris Olympics."
Andrews, the keirin world champion, is joined by the likes of Emma Finucane (GBR), the sprint world champion; two-time Pan-American champion Martha Bayona Pineda (COL) and Olympic sprint champion Kelsey Mitchell (CAN) and former keirin world champion Nicky DeGrendele (BEL).
Dakin and Saunders are included in a stellar men's field headed by sprint legend Harrie Lavreysen (NED), the 18-time world and two-time Olympic champion.
Other star sprinters include Rudyk Mateusz (POL) and keirin world silver medallist, Matthew Richardson (AUS).
The endurance field includes scratch world champion Sebastian Mora and Scotland's kiwi-based Mark Stewart, the former world individual pursuit world champion.
Cumming also faces strong competition led by distinguished Katie Archibald (GBR), a five-time world and two-time Olympic champion.
The series, which attracted 18,000 attendance and a television audience of 11.4 million from 81 countries, is organised by Warner Bros Discovery Sports and the UCI.
