Olympic Track Cycling

track cyclists

List of Track Cycling Events

Men Track Cycling

  • Individual Pursuit 4Km

4km Pursuit. Winning time around 4 minutes. Race also won if the other rider is caught during the 4Km.

  • Keirin Men

2Km race. Riders race behind motorised bike for 1.4km, before being released for last 600 meters sprint.

  • Madison

50Km race. Involves a team of two riders. Only one rider is involved in race at any one time. After a certain number of laps the riders switch by slinging the other rider into the race with their arms. The rider not involved retreats to the upper part of the track banking. Points can be gained for winning sprints every 20 laps. More points are on offer for being able to lap the field

  • Olympic Sprint

Team of 3 riders race to finish 3 laps the quickest (or catch the opposite team)

  • Points Race Men

40km race. Sprints take place every 10 laps, with the first four riders getting points (5,3,2,1) each time and at the overall finish. A rider is awarded 20 extra points if he laps the field, while riders losing a lap have 20 points deducted. If points are tied the winner of the final sprint is the victor.

  • Sprint individual

In the sprint two riders start from the same point on the track and race for 3 laps. Usually the sprint doesn’t take place until last lap. In the first 2 laps there is often an attempt to get the best position. Sometimes the riders can come to an almost complete stop, waiting for others to make the first move. In the qualifying rounds, the sprint is done as a time trial. The latter rounds will be best of 3 races.

  • Team Pursuit (4000m) Men

4 riders race together as a team making best use of slipstream. It requires careful technical ability as well as speed.

Reade Pendleton

Female Track Events

  • Individual pursuit Women

3Km individual pursuit.

  • Points race Women

Race over 25km. Same rules as for men

  • Sprint Women

Reade and Victoria Pendleton in Team Sprint 2008

Top GB Male Track Cyclists

Top GB Female Track Cyclists

From World Championships 2008 Photos by Richard Musheet

Track Cycling at Olympics.org.uk

Track Cycling Schedule at Beijing Olympics



5 Responses to Olympic Track Cycling

  1. Arjun Kugathas December 24, 2008 at 1:32 pm #

    victoria pendleton is a legend!! keep it going…

  2. Jon August 13, 2008 at 7:30 am #

    Tejvan
    are you discounting Cavendish as a track cyclist because he specializes in road racing? According to the BBC, he is taking part in the Madison with Wiggins. I thought he would be a more topical link than Boardman.

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