March 3, 2011 (Aigle, Switzerland) – With little more than one week remaining before the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, the velodrome at the World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland, is being put to good use. The Worlds will take place in Montichiari, Italy from March 11th to 13th. On their way to this major track rendezvous of the year, members of the German team will stop over in Aigle on 5th March to train on the WCC track.

Among the German para-cyclists making use of the WCC facilities before the World Championships are Yannick Reich and his pilot Torsten Goliasch Yannick Reich finished seventh in the B&VI sprint at the 2009 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Manchester, Great Britain.

They are joined on the WCC track by Steffen Warias (C3), road race World Champion at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships held in Baie-Comeau, Canada, in August 2010.

Meanwhile multiple French Champion Sébastien Serrière trained at the WCC from February 21st to 25th. Part of the French sprint team, the seasoned athlete and his team will finally not be participating in Montichiari – the result of an administrative hiccup.

Serrière, amputated at the tibia, is also a successful road cyclist. He was European Champion in 2001 and won the bronze medal at the World Championships in Bordeaux, France, in 2007.

He discovered the WCC while participating in the 2006 World Championships in Aigle. As welI as training at the centre, he has also participated twice in the Tour du Monde, a 24-hour event held each year on the WCC track.

“I have come back to Aigle every year since the Worlds in 2006. There is everything here, and it is interesting too.”

After individual morning sessions last week, Serrière trained in the afternoons with the WCC’s own track trainees. He even joined in with the public lunchtime sessions.

“It is great training with the WCC athletes. They are really fast. Even the public rides pretty well. They are regulars and know what they’re about.”

Despite his disappointment at missing next week’s Worlds, Serrière remains positive. Back from injury last year due to a problem with his prosthetic, he is enjoying being able to ride free of pain.

This year’s UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup remains a possibility, as does selection for the 2012 London Paralympic Games. With two Games participations under his belt (Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004) Serrière does not exclude the possibility of renewing the experience in London.

“It’s definitely a target. I’ll have to see how things go this year.”