The International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Cycling World Championships this October will be held in Roubaix in northern France, after being moved from Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, back in June.
The championships are now scheduled for October 20 to 24 at the Vélodrome Couvert Régional Jean-Stablinski.
The venue, also known as "Le Stab", opened in 2012 and features a 250-metre track.
It is situated within the city’s Parc des Sports and adjacent to the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux, the finish of the Paris-Roubaix Classic in road cycling.
The Paris-Roubaix Classic is also scheduled for the start of October, having been postponed from April because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The UCI Track Cycling World Championships will now be organised by the French Cycling Federation (FFC), the City of Roubaix, Lille European Metropole, the department of Nord and the Hauts-de-France region.
The UCI says "most of the gold medallists" from Tokyo 2020 will take part, with the event serving as qualification for the inaugural UCI Track Champions League starting this November.
David Lappartient, the President of the UCI, believes Roubaix will prove to be a worthy host of the event.
"I would like to congratulate the Roubaix Organising Committee, led by the FFC and its President, Michel Callot, and all the authorities involved, for the quality of their candidature file," he said.
"Roubaix has long been a fabled location on the international cycling scene thanks to the famous Paris-Roubaix Classic.
"Its name will now be associated with the history of the UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
"I am convinced that the magnificent Jean-Stablinski Velodrome will showcase an exceptional event."
Callot said that hosting the Track Cycling World Championships will only add to France’s pedigree within the sport.
"We are immensely proud that the expertise of our teams in organising sporting events has been recognised with the award of the UCI Track Cycling World Championships," said Callot.
"This major international event, held in a region with a very strong cycling tradition, will be the prelude to a 2022 that will see France stage three UCI Cycling World Championships - BMX in Nantes, mountain bike in Les Gets, and track cycling in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.
"With three years to go until the Olympic Games Paris 2024, France is a land of cycling like never before."
Leading politicians from the department of Nord and the Hauts-de-France region also welcomed today’s announcement.
Christian Poiret, the President of the department of Nord, said hosting the event would bring "economic benefits" and tap into local people’s passion for cycling, while the Hauts-de-France region’s President Xavier Bertrand and vice-president for sport, youth affairs and community projects remarked in a joint-statement that the UCI Track Cycling World Championships would "showcase our region", which would be represented by local cyclist Oscar Caron.
The Mayor of Roubaix Guillaume Delbar, who is also chairperson of the Board at Le Stab, added: "We have a wonderful opportunity to promote and showcase our regional velodrome as a centre of excellence that has been developing young riders for nearly ten years now.
"The medals won at the last French Championships are a reflection of that.
"The event will also put the spotlight on a velodrome that will be a support base at the Olympic Games Paris 2024."
The 2021 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were awarded to Ashgabat in September 2018, but moved in June with organisers and the UCI citing COVID-19 restrictions in Turkmenistan.
The Central Asian country has officially reported no cases or deaths from COVID-19, but has imposed some strict restrictions on commercial travel and made vaccinations compulsory for all residents from the age of 18.
Its President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was controversially awarded the UCI Order in June 2020, despite concerns over Turkmenistan’s human rights record.
The 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were held in the German capital Berlin, with the Netherlands topping the medal table with six golds.
Next year’s event is due to be hosted in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines near Paris, which also hosted the 2015 edition.