The fixed gear crit season is slowly starting and with that we can expect plenty of high-end photo reports coming up. However, as the big crits still have to take place, we felt that this beautiful photo series taken during the Track Cycling UCI World Championship 2018 in Apeldoorn by Merlijn Spenkelink deserves to be shared.
Photography: Merlijn Spenkelink
“Track cycling is one of the oldest forms of cycling, it has been around since the 1870’s. And where road cycling has seen a significant evolution, track cycling has stayed more close to its roots. The bikes are still fixed gear and brakeless, the surface of the track is still wood or concrete, and the race formats mostly stay the same. It’s been in every Olympics (except for 1912), there are the famous six-day events with a rich heritage, and there’s also the World Championship held in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands this year. Even though the World Championships don’t have the nostalgic feel of the six-day races, it’s still amazing to watch, and to see the riders pushing their limits. As a photographer I had the privilege to watch everything from up close, and to take pictures.”
