Mark Stewart and Emma Cumming: UCI Track Champions League's premier couple chat ahead of opening night in Mallorca

Emma Cumming and Mark Stewart are the de facto first couple of the Track Champions League. As pro riders from different nations, their schedules seldom overlap, which means the series provides a welcome rare opportunity for the pair to go racing together.

Stewart made an immediate impact on his Track Champions League debut last year by winning the opening night scratch race in Mallorca.

As Eurosport found out when we caught up with the couple recently, this time around he has even higher hopes for himself.

Cumming is excited to be back racing on an indoor track, and seeing what she can do with her powerful sprint finish.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

We're both really looking forward to it. Last year it was one of our highlights so it's really great to go back. It's more doing it with your other half, more than anything. We're lucky to have that to share. As we're from different nations we don't very often get the opportunity to do the travel, or do all the little bits and bobs together. Those are the fun bits, really the chaos in between!

We don't have as many support staff as the nation, but as an organisation it's one of the best events I've ever been to, the way that it's run.

The timeline of it is chaotic - to do four weeks on the bounce, which is like eight travel days and five race days - but when you're actually there, it's phenomenally run, and from an athlete's point of view it's pretty stress free.

It opens up the opportunity to form connections with multinational and different types of riders. I knew so many of the girls that I've raced with for years, but I didn't actually know them properly. And so the Champions League gave you those four weeks to build more of a connection and have better relationships with people, which is like one of the cool things that came out of it.

Claudio Imhof!

You know these guys from meeting them in track centre, but to get that extended period of time with them, in the hotels and meal times... You'd never go and sit with team Switzerland at a World Cup or a world champs, but that integration at the Track Champions League is really nice. So yeah, made really good friends with Claudio Imhof.

I think track maybe breeds extroverts. As a professional road rider you could just hide inside the team bus the whole time and be as introverted as you want. You couldn't be like that with track. I think it's just more of a social environment. And it’s not just the riders but the other staff. I don’t know his name but the Japanese mechanic is like the friendliest guy you’d ever meet. You always get like a nod and a wave when he walks past you. Tracks are an equaliser. It's not just riders and everyone else, it's just humans beings. If you're in the track centre, you're part of the circus.

When you're in the track centre, it's the same mechanics that have been there for five or six years and you see them at six competitions through the year. It's the same for the riders: I grew up with Matilda Gros, and Pauline Grabosch, I’ve known them since I was 17. You see them consistently, five, six times a year.

It's entertainment, isn't it? If you're an athlete going into it you understand that this is trying to grow the sport and expose the sport. So you're not there thinking well, nope, I need five minutes more of a warm up.

I've been quite a lot of outdoor track racing this season. So I did a big stint in America and then I did Fiorenzuola and also and then from Herne Hill [South London Grand Prix at Herne Hill], I had a wee bit of time off. So I'm very much looking forward to going on an indoor track. I feel like there's a little bit more like skill based around an indoor track. That's what I grew up riding. I think maybe I'm just a bit precious. You obviously don't have the wind and weather, so you know exactly what you're getting. Indoor tracks tend to be a lot smoother, not as bumpy.

Outdoor, for me, it's physiologically a lot different. It's like road racing, slower speeds. The whole thing is a bit “grippier”. If you're going to sprint on an outdoor track, you're starting from a lower speed - it's almost like a road race. Indoors you already operate at much higher speeds so it's about how well you can follow the wheel and where you can come around. Indoor track racing is still a bit like an art. It's all about time and precision.

Yeah, mainly in the last round when I came around Matthijs Büchli, who was World Keirin champ and who puts out twice as much power as me. There's not a chance I would ever be able to outsprint him on the road or outdoor track, but on an indoor track, because you're already at 60kph hour when the sprint starts, I just had to wait, wait, wait for a split second, when I thought he would tire it up. It's not actually your legs. It's how you're riding the track.

The men’s startlist looks even stronger than last year, which I'm hoping might actually suit me because if there's more people in the running, that means the races will be a bit harder. It's not just one versus one. I’m maybe not the most powerful rider, but if there's a lot more tactics in play, and people in play, then I think that could suit me. So yeah, I'll be trying to win as much as possible.

Last year the dynamics of each round changed with who was in the lead, who was in second and third and how many points they were off. You kind of have to focus on one round at a time. If you want to win the overall it might not actually be that advantageous to be in the leader's jersey.

I'm just looking forward to racing. It's always great to go out and race on the world stage again. I had a bit of a hiatus, racing on the world stage so that's one of the biggest things. I want to get the opportunity to use my sprint. That’s one of my strong points. Last year I felt like I didn’t get the opportunity to open up properly.

EUROSPORT:

The elimination race is so nerve-wracking, I hate it, when you’re starting and you just know carnage awaits.

Oh after that it’s fun, yeah, but yeah, that first 5 or 10 laps… I know it's so good for the spectators, though. It's what I really enjoy watching.

Entertainment wise, it is the best thing to watch.

And I like the opportunity to get to do five of them, you know, within such a short space of time against world class competition.

Always London. The UK crowd is always outrageous.

I think you can't outdo Katie [Archibald] but my rogue horse that I would bet would be Dani Khan.

For the women's sprint Emma Finucane will destroy it.

I think Sophie Capewell.

For the men’s sprint I’m going to go Richer [Matthew Richardson].

It’s literally a two horse race, isn’t it? I’ll go with Lavreysen. I reckon Richer has had his time at the top. For the men’s endurance? [Quentin] Lafargue, the ex French sprinter will be good, but I’m going to go with Buchli, the ex Dutch sprinter.

I obviously want to go with you but I'm gonna go with Jules Hesters. He's a phenomenal elimination racer because he's Belgian and I think he'll add some chaos in there.

I'm gonna go Neah [Evans]. She's the only one I looked on that list and thought she can give Katie a run for her money. Kate Richardson, the young Scottish rider is really good. She was a triathlete. She's only been doing it for a year or two. But she's just really impressive.

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The UCI Track Champions League begins on Saturday October 21 in Mallorca. Watch every minute on Eurosport and discovery+