CCACHE x Par Küp unveil track ambitions with UCI Track Trade Team registration

CCACHE x Par Küp are heading for the velodrome after announcing their registration as a UCI Track Trade Team for 2024 and beyond.

The Australian UCI Continental road team have been mainstays of the AusCycling National Road Series and UCI Asia circuit for a number of years and were formerly known as Oliver's Real Food Racing.

Now, the team are expanding their program with an eye on long-term growth and rider development for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games, led by management trio Sam Layzell, Craig Chapman and Anthony Peden.

Five of the announced eight-man team are AusCycling Podium Ready or Podium Potential categorised athletes, and the team has stated the track program, which will run concurrently with the UCI Continental road team, will initially focus on providing additional competition opportunities for its riders this season as they prepare to potentially compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in August.

Through registration of the team, precious UCI points have already begun to be collected, starting from last week's UCI Track Nations Cup in Adelaide, which will aid the team in qualifying for the 2025 UCI Track Nations Cup.

The team's announcement also delved into long-term goals that include a junior talent identification and development program, additional training opportunities, access to cutting-edge equipment, facilities, psychology and technology for athletes, as well as providing opportunities to new coaches, mechanics and handlers to attend some of the biggest events in the world.

Layzell, CCACHE x Par Küp's General Manager, said "it's very exciting to see our program grow to incorporate a track team officially for 2024."

"We’ve been long-term supporters of track endurance athletes via our road team over the years, so to now register, it will allow us to compete like many other countries do with track trade teams at the UCI level. Our team profile will also bring additional coverage to track racing both here and abroad."

The teams first official event will be the Japan Track Cycling Cup in May, but before then the majority of the team's riders will compete and continue collecting UCI points at the 2024 Oceania Track Championships in New Zealand from February 14-18, and the 2024 AusCycling Track National Championships in Brisbane from March 1-5.

CCACHE x Par Küp are now one of 16 UCI Track Trade Teams, joining teams from Japan, France, USA, Spain, Malaysia, China, Canada, Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Great Britain.

Only five teams gain qualification for each individual UCI Track Nations Cup event in each annual season, with that qualification defined following the UCI Track Team ranking established six weeks before the first leg of the forthcoming UCI Track Nations Cup season.

CCACHE x Par Küp UCI Track Trade Team:

• John Carter
• Joshua Duffy
• Dylan Eather
• Kurt Eather
• Graeme Frislie
• Conor Leahy
• James Moriarty
• Ryan Schilt

Feature picture: Morgan Ho