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The 2026 UEC European Track Cycling Championships got under way in Konya on Feb. 1, with the morning program at the Konya Olympic Velodrome wrapping up eliminations and qualifying rounds across key team and endurance events.
Staged in Türkiye’s first and only Olympic-standard track cycling venue, the championships are running from Feb. 1 to Feb. 5 and are bringing Europe’s elite track riders to central Türkiye for five days of racing.
UEC refers to the Union Europeenne de Cyclisme, the European Cycling Union that runs Europe’s official calendar of cycling events. Track cycling is held on a steep-banked indoor oval, known as a velodrome, where riders compete in short, high-speed races and longer tactical contests.
Organizers said the Konya Olympic Velodrome’s infrastructure and track quality are allowing the event to play out at a high international standard, while the first session was followed closely by spectators in the stands.
The opening session focused on setting the field for the evening finals, with riders and teams racing for seeding positions and progression.
A key Türkiye storyline from the opening session came in the men’s elimination discipline, a race format where the last rider over the line is removed at set intervals until only the final contenders remain.
Turkish National Team rider Ramazan Yilmaz took to the track in the heats and booked his place in the evening final, finishing second in his series behind reigning European champion Tim Torn Teutenberg of Germany.
The first session featured qualifying and ranking races in three disciplines for both women and men: elimination, team sprint, and team pursuit.
In the elimination heats, the leading finishers were listed in two rounds:
Team sprint qualifiers produced first-round matchups for the evening. In the women’s team sprint:
In the men’s team sprint:
Team pursuit qualifiers also shaped the bracket. In the women’s team pursuit:
In the men’s team pursuit:
The second session is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. local time, with finals and first-round races taking place across multiple disciplines. The evening program includes the women’s and men’s team sprint, with both first-round races and finals, as well as the women’s scratch race and the final of the men’s elimination.
Ramazan Yilmaz is set to line up in the men’s elimination final, while Reyhan Yakisir will represent Türkiye in the women’s scratch race.
The scratch race is a mass-start format where the first rider to the finish wins, without intermediate eliminations.
Organizers said the championships are being held under the hosting of the Turkish Cycling Federation, coordinated by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, with Spor Toto and Turk Telekom named as main sponsors, and support from the Konya Governorship and Konya Metropolitan Municipality.
The event is listed as bringing together 315 elite athletes from 30 countries, including 134 women and 181 men. Broadcast distribution was described as running through TRT Spor, Eurosport 2, L’Equipe, RAI Sport, VRT, and Eurovision Sport, with coverage across six channels reaching more than 40 countries and an estimated 230 million households through live programming.
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