Opened in 2010 at a cost of $350 million (£252 million/€286 million), the Minsk Arena houses an ice rink in addition to the 2,000 capacity velodrome.

It hosted the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in 2013 and will be among the main venues for next year's European Games.

"For the organisers the upcoming world cup is a good opportunity to check the readiness before the start of the Second European Games which include competitions at the velodrome," Belarus' First Deputy Sport and Tourism Minister Vyacheslav Durnov told the country's state news agency BelTA. 

Aleksei Ivanov, director of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Minsk, is expecting the Arena to be full for the event, which is due to start tomorrow and finish on Sunday (January 21) and has attracted 300 competitors from 36 countries.

"It is a big test for the National Federation and the Minsk Cycling Club, especially in the run-up to the European Games," he told BelTA. 

The 2017-2018 series began in Pruszkow in Poland last November before heading to Manchester a week later. 

Round three took place from in in Milton in Canada with the fourth round a week later in Santiago in Chile. 

Minsk represents the final opportunity for many riders to prepare for the UCI Track Cycling World Championships, due to take place at the Omnisport Apeldoorn in The Netherlands between February 28 and March 4. 

"These competitions are of particular importance for the Belarusian riders," Natalia Tsilinskaya, an eight-time World Championships gold medallist, who is now President of the Belarusian Cycling Federation, said. 

"First, they will be cycling at home, and it is a big responsibility. 

"Second, the World Cup is an excellent opportunity for our youth to compete with elite athletes of the world cycling. 

"Third, this launch will become a great trial practice and abilities test before the global event the European Games 2019."