The road to Rio 2016 is getting ever nearer and the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Colombia provide the chance to see the current progress of the world’s top riders live on BBC Sport.
Great Britain have established themselves as the dominant force in track cycling in recent years, and will have high hopes of returning from Cali with another impressive medal haul.
Following on from a successful World Cup season in which Great Britain topped the overall nation ranking, performance director of British Cycling, Sir David Brailsford, will be sending out 17 athletes to the event.
These include current world champions Laura Trott, Dani King, Elinor Barker, Jason Kenny and Becky James, who will all aiming to defend their crowns, while promising talent Katie Archibald will be make her track world championship debut.
There will be plenty of British interest over the first three days of competition at the new Velodromo Alcides Nieto Patino in Cali, the most populous city in western Colombia.
British women’s team pursuit squad will certainly begin as red-hot favourites for their title, having only three months ago broken their own world record by shaving three seconds off their previous best.
Three-time Olympic gold medallist Jason Kenny will also be in action, and will hope to successfully defend the keirin world title he won in Minsk last year.
Over the weekend the final rounds of the women’s sprint, in which Great Britain’s Becky James is the defending champion, are sure to provide plenty of drama, as is the conclusion of the men’s omnium.
Britain’s Laura Trott will also begin as one of the favourites for the women’s omnium.
Trott won two gold medals at the 2012 Olympics, including one in the omnium, but in the corresponding event at last year’s World Championships she ended with silver behind the USA’s Sarah Hammer.
Trott’s partner, three-time Olympic gold medallist Jason Kenny, was also one of the leading contenders in the men’s sprint.
With qualification for Rio 2016 expected to begin this year, this world championships will allow us to lay down a marker to see where we are at against the best in the world and assess what work needs to be done
For further background to the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, visit the British Cycling website.
BBC Sport will screen extensive coverage across all five days of the 2014 UCI World Track Cycling Championships from Cali with daily live coverage every evening on BBC Red Button and highlights shows on BBC One and BBC Two.
Jonathan Edwards will present the three highlights programmes over the weekend from the BBC studios in Salford, where he will be joined by former Olympic gold medallist Jamie Staff and Paralympic champion Dame Sarah Storey.
All five evening sessions, which will feature every World Championship final at the event, will broadcast live and in full on BBC Red Button and online via the BBC Sport website.
Simon Brotherton leads the commentary team alongside 1992 Olympic champion Chris Boardman, while Jill Douglas provides trackside reports and interviews with the key riders.
There will also be full radio coverage on BBC 5 live with reports and live commentaries from Alistair Bruce-Ball and Rob Hayles on 5 live Sports Extra.
Live streaming, highlights, interviews and reports will be available via the BBC Sport website, where viewers can see all BBC TV and Red Button broadcasts.
The BBC Sport website is available via desktop, mobile, tablet and app, giving fast and easy access to the live stream, text commentaries, news, reports, schedules, videos, as well as highlights of the day’s action.
The BBC Sport app is available free for Apple and Android devices.
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Event finals listed in blue below
Wednesday 26th February
DAY 1 – Evening Session
Women’s Scratch 10km
Men’s Team Pursuit
Women’s Team Sprint
Men’s Team Sprint
LIVE: 11.50pm-2.25am BBC Red Button
Thursday 27th February
DAY 2 – Evening Session
Women’s 500m TT
Men’s Scratch 15km
Men’s Individual Pursuit
Men’s Keirin
Women’s Team Pursuit
LIVE: 11.20pm-3.00am BBC Red Button
Friday 28th February
DAY 3 – Evening Session
Men’s Kilometre TT
Women’s Individual Pursuit
Men’s Points Race 40km
LIVE: 11.20pm-3.25am BBC Red Button
Saturday 1st March
Highlights: Days 1-3
1.15pm-2.45pm BBC One
DAY 4 – Evening Session
Women’s Points Race 25km
Women’s Sprint
Men’s Omnium
LIVE: 11.20pm-3.25am BBC Red Button
Sunday 5th March
Highlights: Day 4
4.00pm-5.35pm BBC Two
DAY 5 – Afternoon Session
Women’s Omnium
Women’s Keirin
Men’s Sprint
Men’s Madison 50km
LIVE: 8.20pm-12.05am BBC Red Button
Monday 6th March
Highlights: Day 5
1.45pm-2.45pm BBC Two
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