OCBC CYCLE Speedway Championships 2019

The 2019 edition of the OCBC Cycle Speedway Championships will see four new teams taking part.

Vietnam Make their Debut

In the South East Asian championships, Vietnam will be making their debut for the first time.

Said the Vietnam captain, “This may be the first time that we have come this way and I have been told that it is challenging but we have a lot of young riders so we are confident in our chances.”

Two all-female teams taking part

And in the club championships, two all-female teams will be taking part in the competition for the first time.

The ANZA Women’s Cycling Team is one of them. Said captain Stephanie Lim, 34, an engineer, “Cycling has been growing amongst women in Singapore for a while now, so we wanted to join in to show that women do race too and we also want to encourage more women to do so. The Speedway championships is a great exhibition way for us to do that.”

The other all-female team is the Fahrenheit Performance Development Team and when asked whether female riders have an advantage over the male riders, captain Elizabeth Hodges playfully quipped, “We are aiming to distract all the male teams so that they drop out and we can win that way. After all, we think we are the best-looking team in this competition.”

Corporate championships returns

As well, the Speedway Corporate Championship also makes a return after a year’s break.

Said one of the competing corporate teams, LendLease Retail’s team captain, Richard Paine, “We have decided to take part in this race because we want to enjoy the team camaraderie and we are also a little competitive.”

He added “It helps that some of us are used to racing too. Although we are new to the race, we’re looking forward to working well as a team and will be careful on the baton changes.”

Draw took place

Also, the draw to divide up the nine South East Asian, 15 local club teams and six corporate teams into respective groups for the fifth edition of the OCBC Cycle Speedway Championships took place this afternoon during the press conference, which was at the Hotel Jen OrchardGateway Singapore.

As the teams were drawn, there had been plenty of excitement and anticipation in the air as teams waited with bated breath to find out who they would be up against.

South East Asian championships

For the South East Asia Championships, the nine teams were divided into two groups with four in one group and five in the other. The groups were as follows:

Group 1

Myanmar
Brunei
Malaysia
Thailand
Cambodia

Group 2

Philippines
Singapore
Vietnam
Laos

The top two teams of each group and the best chaser, that is, the fastest team from the remaining teams across the groups, will advance to the semi-finals.

At the semi-final, one team will be eliminated, leaving four teams to compete in the final.

Said the Vietnam captain about their chances, “We have been doing lots of riding to train hard for the competition, but now that we are here, we want to just enjoy the race and making sure that we stay hydrated at the same time.”

Club Championships

And in the Club championships, 13 clubs represented by 15 teams will be vying for top honours. Together with the ANZA Women’s Cycling Team, the other all-female team will be Farenheit Performance Development Team. Two clubs, CyclingTraining.cc and Greyhounds – are also making their debuts.

The teams were drawn into three groups and these are as follows.

Group 1

Specialized Roval Mavericks Team A
Integrated Riding racing Team
CyclingTraining.cc
30Forty Cycling Team
Ascenders Team Swift

Group 2

Allied World Treknology
ANZA Team B
Swiss Club Riders
Specialized Roval Mavericks Team B
Rapha Cycling Club

Group 3

MatadorRACING
Anza Team A
Farenheit Performance Development Team
ANZA Cycling Women’s Team
Greyhounds

Once again, the top two teams will proceed to the semi-finals and the two best chaser teams from the remaining teams will also join them there.

And the top two from each semi final will then proceed to the final and similarly, the best chaser team from the remaining teams across the groups will make it to the final, making it five teams racing in the final.

On the draw and the competition ahead, Stephanie said, “For the race, it is not something we will try and do a breakaway. We will be cautious and race smart. We are not going to be at the front of the peloton; we will be in it trying to keep up and be a part of the race.”

She added, “Though it would be nice to win on our first attempt, we are trying to be realistic. This is about showing that women can step upon and we would rather race safely than be reckless and try and win.”

Corporate Championships

Meanwhile, the corporate championships will see six rivals battling for top honours. They were drawn into two groups and with the top two teams from each group and the best chaser making it to the semi-finals.

Then in the semi-final, one team will be eliminated, leaving four teams to advance to the final.

And the two groups are as follows:

Group 1:

GSK
Advanced Micro Devices Singapore
LandLease Retail

Group 2:

OCBC Bank
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Civil Defence Force

Winning the Corporate championships when it had last been staged two years ago were Singapore Civil Defence Force, who are eager to defend their title.

Said the team captain, “This will be challenging for us but we are looking forward to the challenges and the competition.”

He continued, “We haven’t done research on the other teams, but many of us come from the same club team and we work together so we are familiar with each other. We hope to enjoy it and have the chance represent our organisation at the same time.”

Begins Tomorrow 6:30am