On September 2, California State University, Dominguez Hills officially added cycling to its multiple championship-winning Athletics program with the signing of its first student-cyclist, Alejandro Che.
The new varsity collegiate cycling program—the only one of its kind in California—joins 20 others nationwide. It is supported in partnership with USA Cycling and AEG, which operates the VELO Sports Center located within the Dignity Health Sports Park complex on campus. Operated by longtime campus partners AEG and Anschutz Southern California Sports Complex, LLC., VELO is the largest of only three active indoor velodromes in U.S. and home track to USA Cycling’s national track cycling program.
“Olympic track cycling will return to this campus in 2028, and we see tremendous potential for this new program to complement and benefit from that global event,” said CSUDH Interim President Mary Ann Villarreal.
“Often, cyclists like Alejandro have to choose between pursuing higher education and competing in their sport because of the lack of facilities and college teams,” she added. “We’re glad to be able to fill that gap with this new program.”
General Manager at Dignity Health Sports Park Adam Duvendeck, a two-time Olympian and five-time U.S. Track Cycling National Champion, said the establishment of a Toro cycling team has been a vision 15 years in the making.
“This becoming a reality is really special, as it’s building on the many synergies that already exist between CSUDH and Dignity Health Sports Park,” he said. “No other campus in the entire nation can say that they have an international, world-class, Olympic Velodrome. This is a unique opportunity to take one of our flagship properties and build a program around it that benefits the university.”
Travis Smith, Manager of VELO Sports Center and 30-time Canadian national cycling champion, will coach CSUDH’s team for the first year. He shared his excitement for establishing the program, stating that his goal as coach is “to come away with at least one national championship.”
With Che signed, CSUDH is well-positioned to compete. A third-year CSUDH student, Che is a Kinesiology major and Philosophy minor and an elite competitive cyclist. He recently won the United States Under-23 Criterium National Championship in West Virginia and the California Bicycle Racing Criterium #3, held at VELO, in March. He cited CSUDH’s proximity to VELO as a key factor in his decision to become a Toro, and he hopes to help attract more student-athletes to the new team.
Che will be competing as a Toro cyclist for the first time Sept. 9-11 at the 2026 USA Cycling Collegiate Track National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. His events include the endurance-style points race, the individual pursuit (four kilometers), and the kilo, a three lap, 1,000-meter time trial race.
At his signing, Che said: “I’m excited to be at the start of this wonderful program, and to put this jersey on my back for Nationals next week!”
