The 2026 UCI Track Cycling World Cup concluded in Nilai, Malaysia, where Chinese athletes dominated the medal table with three golds won over three days of competition (April 24-26). Although the Netherlands collected more medals than China in Nilai (10 against six Chinese), with only two golds they finished second in the medal standings.

China boasts exceptional talent
China achieved the third consecutive victory in the women's team sprint event, adding Nilai's success to those in Perth (Australia) and Hong Kong (China). Xuehuang Luo, Liying Yuan and Yuxuan Zhu prevailed over the Netherlands (Kimberley Kalee, Hetty van de Wouw, Steffie van der Peet) on Friday. The Chinese men's sprint team – composed of Ruiting Huang, Zhiheng Jin and Zhiwei Li – also reached the podium in Nilai, finishing second behind the Italians Stefano Minuta, Daniele Napolitano and Mattia Predomo.

Team pursuit also brought two medals to China in the finals. Ni Li, Zhengyu Pei, Haijiao Sun and Junjie Wu dominated the men's event, surpassing France in the final and claiming gold. In the women's competition, the Chinese finished second behind the New Zealanders Bryony Botha, Samantha Donnelly, Prudence Fowler and Emily Shearman.

Lijuan Wang gave her nation one final gold medal on Sunday in the women's keirin. China also reached the podium in the women's individual sprint, with Liying Yuan winning the bronze medal playoff against Canadian Lauriane Genest. British rider Emma Finucane defeated Dutch rider Hetty van de Wouw, claiming gold.

Lavreysen and Stenberg in outstanding form
While China celebrated three gold medals, the Netherlands monopolized the podium in Nilai with two victories, four silver medals and four bronze medals. Harrie Lavreysen claimed gold (victory in the men's individual sprint against Nicholas Paul, athlete from the UCI World Cycling Centre in Trinidad and Tobago), silver (second place in the men's keirin, behind Malaysian Mohd Azizulhasni Awang) and bronze (third place in the men's team sprint, alongside Roy van den Berg and Tijmen van Loon). The Dutch pair defeated France in the cycling leg, securing third place. The other gold medal for the Netherlands came in the women's Madison, dominated by Lisa van Belle and Lorena Wiebes.

Norwegian Anita Stenberg won two events solo, surpassing Wiebes in the women's omnium after dominating Mexican Yareli Acevedo in the women's elimination race. The other victories in Nilai went to Naoki Kojima (Japan, men's omnium), Moritz Augenstein and Roger Kluge (Germany, men's Madison) and Ilya Savekin (AIN, men's elimination race).