Press conference dedicated to World Cup opening

Press conference dedicated to opening of 2019-2020 Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup I was held on October 29, 2019 in Astoria Riverside restaurant complex.

Among the speakers were such famous and titled sportsmen as Christos Volikakis (Greece) – World Champion, two-time champion of the 2nd European Games 2019, Anastasiia Voinova (Russia) - four-time World Champion, eleven-time European champion, two-time champion of the 2nd European Games 2019, silver medalist of 2016 Olympic Games and Yauheni Karaliok (Belarus) – World Champion (2018), 2016-2017 World Cup Winner.

Natalia Tsilinskaya, Chairperson of Belarusian Cycling Federation also attended the press-conference. She said: “We intend to please guests with competitions held on the highest level, and the sportsmen are going to impress the fans with high results. I would like to wish everyone amazing emotions from the performance of our team. We are very proud that we were entrusted with holding of the first in the Olympic season stage of the World Cup. This is a double responsibility, but we can cope with it.”

According to Aleksei Ivanov, manager of Minsk stage of the World Cup, organizers expect high interest from fans, for which different activities will be prepared. Besides, they will have an opportunity to see the best athletes of the world, who came to Minsk to compete for licenses to Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

“We are grateful to the UCI for their trust. Holding of competitions of such level would be impossible without support of the Belarusian government, which pays considerable attention to the development of sports and a healthy lifestyle” – said Alexey Ivanov. Competition manager emphasized that “this stage will be unique in stellar cast of athletes, this will never happen again. It is a historical race and I'm sure there will be world records”.

The main guests of the press conference, the racers, spoke to the press and shared emotions and plans for the upcoming competitions.

Anastasia Voinova noted that Minsk-Arena Velodrome became a second home for her.
“There are no velodromes of such level in Russia, therefore I often train in the capital of Belarus and I know the conditions very well” said the racer.

Christos Volikakis: “I am always pleased to return to Belarus. Now I’m in a good trim and I’ll try my best to achieve maximum results at these competitions”.

It is worth to remind that from October 31 to November 3 Minsk will host the first in the Olympic season stage of the World Cup. 57 teams from 44 countries will compete for medals and medals and rating points to Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The competition program includes such disciplines as individual and team sprints, team and individual pursuit, keirin, omnium, madison and points race.

In addition to spectacular battle on the track fans can enjoy extensive cultural and entertainment program with prizes and gifts.

Organizers of the competition are the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), Belarusian Cycling Federation, Ministry of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus, Minsk City Executive Committee, National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus and Cycling Club Minsk.