(Beijing, December 9) - Women s team pursuit will be contested for just the second time in World Cup history at the round No. 2 of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics in Beijing on Sunday.

Qualifying starts at 11:25. The finals are scheduled for 16:10. Five teams Cuba, Italy, New Zealand, Russia and Ukraine - are listed on the preliminary start list.

A week ago at the World Cup opener in Sydney, Australia, the three woman event made a successful debut with the Russian Federation team of Eugeniya Romanyuta, Olga Slyusareva and Anastasiay Chulkova winning gold. The Sydney event was the first time the trio had ever ridden together as a team, and they only practiced for one day before the finals.

In the finals Russia recorded a time of 3.29.072 to defeat the Australian trio of Belinda Goss, Katie Mactier and Josephine Tornic, who stopped the clock in 3.30.675. Ukraine's Svetlana Galuk, Lesya Kalitovska and Lyubov Shulika won bronze by beating New Zealand (Catherine Cheatley, Joanne Kiesanowski and Alison Shanks) in the consolation final.

In women's team pursuit each three-rider team lines up on opposite sides of the track then rides in a single-file apace line, where the rider at the front shelters her two trailing teammates.

Riders take turns at the front, changing the lead every lap by swinging up the track's steep banking, letting teammates pass, and then dropping back down to catch back on. Unlike the men's four-rider team pursuit where only three riders must cover the full distance, all members of the women's teams must finish. The team's total time is taken when the third rider crosses the finish line. The women's team pursuit is not an Olympic event.

There are 376 cyclists from 44 countries competing at the Beijing World Cup, making it the second largest track event in history, behind only the last.