About the history of cycling in Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan, the history of this sport has the most interesting facts and is rich in bright personalities.  The date of the creation of cycling is considered to be July 6, 1914, on this day Sibogat Zabirov won a gold medal in a cycling race held in Aktyubinsk.  Since 1918, cycling clubs have been functioning in a number of cities: Petropavlovsk, Kyzyl-Orda, Uralsk and others.   In 1928, the First Spartakiad took place in Petropavlovsk and the Almaty - Shymkent — Almaty bike ride started for the first time, since 1934 the Spartakiad of schoolchildren on the bike ride began to be held.

In the post-war years, athletes of Kazakhstan successfully performed at All-Union competitions.  At the Spartakiads of the republics of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, held in 1948 and 1950, Kazakhstanis rose to the highest step of the podium.

In 1961, Vladimir Zharkov became the first Kazakh Champion of the USSR, who won the gold medal in the group race at the Leningrad track, and in 1966 our compatriot as part of the USSR national team became the winner of the GDR-Poland-Czechoslovakia world cycling race. Mikhail Kalinkin took 1st place at the 1963 Spartakiad of the Peoples of the USSR in an individual race on the 50 km highway.  The glorious tradition of Kazakhstani cyclists at international races and USSR championships was continued by V. Kuharsky, O. Tusumkhanov, A. Stepanenko, V. Shtykhlin, N. Likhanova (Karataeva), V. Prodan, V. Kravchenko, D. Sapazhanov, T. Kulbayev, V. Golushko and others. The impetus for the preparation of the sports reserve from among the young cyclists of the republic was the international multi-day race "Schoolboy of Kazakhstan", which began in 1970.

A special place in the history of Kazakhstan cycling is occupied by Marat Satybaldiyev, the 1989 world champion in the group race on the track in France in Leon, a five-time champion of the USSR. Nowadays, teams of young cyclists from different parts of the republic compete in the multi-day competitions for prizes named after this legendary athlete, the first world champion from Kazakhstan, held since 2010 in the city of Kyzyl-Orda.

Over the years of independence, cycling in Kazakhstan has risen to a high international level. In 1996, the national team of Kazakhstan participated in the XXVI Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, USA. Alexander Vinokurov in 2000 won the silver medal of the XXVII Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in 2003 took 3rd place in the general standings of the Tour de France, in 2012 won the title of Champion of the XXX Olympic Games in London in highway cycling.

In 2006, among the countries of the Asian continent, Kazakhstan was the first to create a professional cycling team "Astana", which in the same year became part of the strongest cycling teams of the top division with the victory of Vinokurov A. and Kashechkin A., who took 1st and 3rd places, respectively, in the general classification of the Vuelta a Espana supermajority.

In 2011, in the young capital of Kazakhstan, Astana (Nur-Sultan), the construction of one of the unique architectural projects was completed – the Republican cycling track "Saryarka", a multifunctional sports complex recognized as one of the best sports facilities in the world. In the bike track "Saryarka", made in the original form in the form of a cyclist's helmet, the technical equipment meets world standards and the best cyclists of the world compete in its arena. Reconstruction of the Spartak bike track in Almaty, the opening of this renovated facility with the use of the most advanced technologies is expected in September 2021.   

In November 2011, the first stage of the Track Cycling World Cup was held in Astana with a record number of participants. In 2014, the Asian Track and Highway Cycling Championships were held for the first time in Astana and Karaganda. In 2015, the capital of Kazakhstan successfully held the World Junior Track Championships. In 2019, the international CL2 and CL1 class competitions - "Silk Way Series Astana" were held on the Saryarka bike track.

The international professional cycling race "Tour of Almaty" has been held in the southern capital of Kazakhstan since 2013 (with the exception of 2020), this year a tour with the participation of the world's strongest cycling teams is planned for August-September 2021.

The winners of the gold medal of the Youth Olympiad in Buenos Aires 2018 were G. Brusensky and E. Fedorov. The year 2020 was also a success for Kazakhstan cycling - the current champion of Kazakhstan Alexey Lutsenko won the sixth stage of the Tour de France super-race and won the biggest victory in his career.

Cycling sports

Cycling sports include such disciplines as road racing, track racing, mountain cycling, cycling, VMH.

The international regulatory body and organizer of the international competition for cycling is the International Union of cyclists (UCI), located in Switzerland. At the national level, such functions are performed by the Kazakhstan Cycling Federation.

About the preparation of athletes of the Nur-Sultan

Olympic Training Center

136 athletes on three cycling disciplines are trained in the center:

1. Chaussey
2. Track
3. Mountinbike

Track Cycling

Track cycling is a type of cycling that takes place on bike tracks and velodromes. Track races are included in the Olympic Games program: Omnium, Madison, Team pursuit, Keirin, Sprint, Team Sprint.

Track races are held on bicycle tracks with wooden and concrete surfaces. The track length can be 200 m, 250 m, 333 m, 400 m.  

This discipline is divided into two large categories:

sprint and pace races:

• Sprint races. The distance of sprint races is usually 8-10 laps. In them, the key role is played by the power capacity of the riders and the tactics of achieving victory on a small number of laps. Sprinters train specifically to compete in short-distance races, do not take part in competitions at longer distances (endurance).

Types of sprint races:

Sprint, Team sprint, Git (500 m, 1000 m), Keirin.

• Pace racing. Pace races are held at much longer distances. First of all, they test the endurance abilities of racers, but also require technical skills, especially in such sports as Madison, points race and Scratch. The distance of these races varies from 12 to 16 laps for pursuit races and up to 120 laps for Madison.

Types of pace races:

individual pursuit, team pursuit,           

Scratch, points race, Madison, Omnium, Elimination race.  

The Nur-Sultan Olympic Training Center trains athletes in 5 departments according to the type of track:

1. The youth composition of the track-tempo is 16 athletes.

The head coach of Yuda, Yuri Yurievich– is a non-resident (works under contract).

Of the 16 athletes, 4 MSMC, 9 MS, 3 CMS. The leading athletes are Dinmukhametov Ramis, Fedorov Evgeny, Brusensky Gleb, Yusifov Igor, Yelyubaev Ruslan, Noskov Dmitry.

2. Track sprint youth team – 5 athletes.

Senior coach Savitsky Valentin Sergeevich is a non–resident (works under contract).

Out of 5 athletes, 3 MSMC, 2 MS. The leading athletes are Andrey Chugai, Alexander Safarov, Dmitry Rezanov.

3. Juniors track-tempo – 11 athletes.

Senior coach Kupeshov Berik Anuarbekovich is a coach of the highest qualification level of the highest category.

Out of 11 athletes, 2 MS, 9 CMS. The leading athletes are Evgeny Yakovenko, Dmitry Vasiliev, Eldar Badretdinov. 

4. Juniors, juniors track sprint – 6 athletes.

Senior coach Ivan Vladimirovich Sivash is a coach of the highest qualification level of the highest category.

All 6 athletes are CMS. The leading athletes are Dmitry Kulikov, Danil Ostrenkov, Yulia Golubkova.

5. Juniors track-tempo – 7 athletes.

Senior coach Svetlana Alekseevna Tarasova is a coach of the highest qualification level of the highest category.

Out of 7 athletes, 2 MS, 5 CMS. The leading athletes are Nina Zaitseva, Karina Abdrakhmanova.