TREXLERTOWN, Pa. – The last portion of UCI points available in T-town this year will be earned on back-to-back nights this week as the World Series of Bicycling double dips, wrapping up the UCI portion of the season in style.
Friday is all about the sprints with the UCI Festival of Speed while Saturday has keirin racing for UCI points as part of the UCI Red Robin All-Stars night.
“The great racing continues,” VPCC Executive Director Marty Nothstein said. “We have two nights to really see some of the best racers in the world as they still prepare for the Rio Olympic games.”
This is the last week for the Canadian national team who has performed well during its stay in T-Town, including the sweep of the Keirin Cup a week ago. Kate O’Brien won the women’s keirin tournament while Hugo Barette was triumphant on the men’s side. Barette is the first male from Canada to have his named etched on the cup.
With sprints being the main event on Friday, the likes of Njisane Phillip of Trinidad and Tobago as well as Jair Tjon En Fa of Suriname will be in the field and of course trying to re-write the history books.
“With sprints, the riders will be trying to break the 200m track record during our morning session,” Nothstein said.
The time trials for sprints will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday and that session is free for fans.
Saturday’s keirin qualifying heats are set to begin at 5 p.m. That session also has free admission for fans.
The many Olympians competing on Friday and Saturday will be sharing the spotlight with the future stars of the sport on both nights.
Friday night is the first PeeWee Pedalers Exhibition Night of the season as the students from the first session of PeeWee Pedalers take a lap around the track before posing for photos during an intermission.
Saturday night is about the all-stars from the Spring 2016 Red Robin Marty Nothstein Bicycle Racing League as those riders have multiple events where they will compete under the bright lights.
The following riders were selected as 2016 Spring BRL all-stars: Eric Riggins, Daniel Riggins Andrew Taylor, Lucas Souders, Ian Siglag, Sawyer Svetcov, Jackson Westdorp, Diachi Yamashita, Alex Moore , Eshaan Patel, Dominik Hochstrasser, Shane Striano, Evan Colburn, Gavin Lewis, Mason George, Hayden Schmidt, Varun Pandian, Lukas Maguino, Michael Love, Siddhant Khandelwal, Khalil Moosa, Jake Pugeda, James Townsend, Otis Engel, Lewis Kopchak, Jonah Hover, Zac Olszewski, Anson Wright, Jacob Evans, Divik Verma, Brian Collins, Sebastian Malavar, Luke Gerdeman, John Josulevicz, Grayson Hauck, Delaney Varga, Erin Halpin, Homare Yamashita, Minori Yamashita, Leah LaFaver, Reagen Pattishall, Francie Flores, Elena Giannantonio, Miranda Giannantonio, Rosiegrace Strydesky, Wendy Neumann, Ian Reece, Philip Han, Neil Deshmukh, Matthew Mech, Owen George, Alex Forgosh, Jimmy Freeman, Sam Smith, Ben LaFaver, Jeremiah Cefola, Nicholas Roberts, Rainer Santee, Irene McGraw, Jenna Davis, Emma MacDonald, Divya Verma, Lourdes Garcia, Michelle Mallia, Daniela Collins, Anja Thomas, Ruth Cefola.
The Festival of Speed will see new champions for 2016 as Eddie Dawkins of New Zealand won the men’s sprint tournament while Elis Ligtlee of the Netherlands won the women’s sprint battle a year ago.
As for the keirin on Saturday it would take another north of the border sweep to have double repeating champions as Monique Sullivan took first place for the women while Hugo Barette won it for the men in 2015.
Upgraded tickets for the VeloDeck will also be on sale for both nights. For $12 each, fans get a seat on the newly-furnished deck and a coupon for a free beer at VPCC’s Beer and Wine Stand.
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Information Provided By:
Tyler Trumbauer
PR/Communications Assistant
Valley Preferred Cycling Center
