OLYMPIC TRACK CYCLING EXPLAINED
A classic stare-off at the start line of a match sprint at the South London Grand Prix. Photo by Bernie Poynton
Olympic track cycling races
We’ve created a guide to Olympic Track Cycling to help you understand what you’re watching: it’s not all just going round in circles.
For the basics on how the track works (what do all the lines mean?), some FAQs and the difference between bunch and sprint races, see our beginners guide to track cycling here.
Team sprint
Although it is one of the shortest olympic cycling events, the team sprint makes up for it in its speed and display of strength. The Olympic event consists of three riders who, from a standing start, attempt to complete three laps of the track as fast as possible. Each lap, the rider at the front of the pack peels off to let the other riders through until the final rider is left to sprint to the line. The team sprint requires explosive strength from all riders on the team as well as perfect execution, and sprint endurance from the final rider.
In qualifying, teams ride solo to set a time, before racing head to head: the two fastest winning teams then race for gold and silver, and the two slowest winning teams race for bronze.
The women’s team sprint finals will take place on the 5th of August at 7.58 pm 2024 whilst the men’s team sprint finals will take place on the 6th of August at 8.07 pm 2024.
An extremely strong GB women’s sprint team including Emma Finucane and Sophie Capewell will be hopeful of gold. For the men, the Dutch superteam including Jeffery Hoogland and Harry Leverysen looks almost unstoppable for gold, but a strong Australian team will be pushing them all the way. The GB team of Jack Carlin, Ed Owen Lowe and Hamish Turnbull will also be hoping for medals against a stacked field.
TEAM PURSUIT
The team pursuit is the ultimate test of teamwork in cycling. Consisting of 4 riders per team, it is a 4km time trial (16 laps of a 250m velodrome) in which the third rider to cross the line has their time taken.
In qualification, teams race to set the fastest time to get them through to the semi finals. In the semi-finals and finals, teams face each other, starting from opposite sides of the track for a nail-biting battle to see who comes out victorious. The fastest times go through to the finals, but, if a team is caught by their opposing team, the race is over.
Team pursuit is known as one of the most prestigious and difficult track events: developments in aerodynamic kit and bikes as well as team tactics has led to enormous gains in recent years as each team evolves to become quicker and quicker. The team pursuit world record has tumbled from 4 minutes in 1996 to 3 minutes 42 seconds in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in the men's team pursuit.
The men’s Olympic team pursuit will take place from the 5th to the 7th of August 2024 whilst the women’s olympic team pursuit will take place from the 6th to the 7th of August 2024. Both finals will be held in the evening of 7th August.
The hot favourites for the men’s race is the GB team pursuit squad including Dan Bigham and Ethan Hayter, local hero. After a bad games in Tokyo, the squad has been on the rise recently bringing home a host of Nations Cup victories as well as a European Championship win. In Paris, their closest rivals will likely be the Olympic champions, Italy, as well as the ever-strong Danish squad.
Similarly on the women’s side, the GB squad, reigning Olympic champions, go into the games as the main favourites, though the absence of GB stalwart Katie Archibald due to injury means that a gold is far from guaranteed.
OMNIUM
The most versatile event of all olympic cycling events, the omnium includes 4 different races: the scratch, a simple event in which first rider over the line wins, the elimination, where every other lap the last rider is eliminated until one rider is left, the tempo, where there is a point awarded to the first rider over the line each lap and the rider with the most points wins. In these three events, points are awarded for each position. Finally, the last event of the omnium is the points race which includes multiple intermediate sprints as well as a final sprint which awards points to riders which directly contribute towards a riders tally in the omnium making it crucial in crowning a winner. This enthralling and unpredictable race tests any riders physical capabilities to endure multiple leg sapping races as well as their mental resilience and tactics to both overcome pressure and disappointment and to make lightning fast race deciding decisions.
The men’s omnium is on the 8th of August and the women’s omnium is on the 11th of August.
In the women’s omnium, Elinor Barker and Neah Evans will be riding for GB against a strong field including the Belgian powerhouse Lotte Kopecky, as well as reigning Olympic Omnium champ Jessica Valente, but this race will always throw up surprises and on the 11th, it could be anyone's day.
In the men’s race, two local legends, Ethan Hayter of GB and Oscar Nillson Julien of France will be hoping for victory alongside the likes of Elia Viviani, a longstanding force in the omnium, of Italy and Campbell Stewart of New Zealand.
Keirin
The fastest of all the track events, the keirin is an event in which six or less of the world's best riders are pitted against each other to sprint it out at startling speeds to crown a victor. Riders first have to complete a first round, quarter and semifinals before competing in one final showdown. In the event, riders will be randomly ordered on the track behind a motorbike, which paces them up to speed for three laps before the riders are unleashed for three laps of racing. With the high speeds of the event, riders will require nerves of steel and razor-sharp tactics as well as fast legs to even contest the keirin.
The women’s event will take place from the 7th to the 8th of August while the men’s event will take place from the 10th to the 11th of August.
Men’s Keirin world champion Kevin Quintero of Columbia will be a contender for gold but will face stiff competition from the Dutch duo of Jeffery Hoogland and Harry Leverysen as well as British hopeful Jack Carlin and Kiwi Matthew Richardson.
In the women’s event, Emma Finnucane will come in as one of the main favourites for gold but will need to keep the lightning fast Emma Hinze of Germany and Mathilde Gros of France at bay.
Sprint
The Olympic match sprint title is the dream of all sprinters worldwide. The format is simple: before the one versus one sprints, flying 200m time trial qualifying takes place to set solo sprint times from which the fastest riders will be seeded against the slowest. Then, one versus one sprinting starting in 1/32 finals with 4 rounds following including repecharges for 1/32, 1/16 and ⅛ finals before a showdown between the two best sprinters in the world in a three round finale.
Unlike sprint events in other Olympics disciplines, the track cycling match sprint is highly tactical and you’ll see the riders using the track in different ways to try and catch their opponent out - it’s not always about pure speed. One racing rule to remember is that the rider who starts their sprint first claims the sprinters lane - between the black and red lines - and may be relegated if they come out of it and impede the sprint of their opponent. Another fun tactic to look out for is the classic stare-off between riders as they are held at the start line: the mind games begin even before the legs start turning.
The men’s sprint will take place from the 7th of August to the 9th of August whilst the women's event will take place from the 9th to the 11th of August.
In the men’s event reigning Olympic champion Harry Leverysen and vice champion Jeffery Hoogland both of the Netherlands will be hoping to achieve the same feat in Paris but will meet strong competition including Jack Carlin of GB and up and coming Matthew Richardson of New Zealand. In the women’s match sprint, there is no outstanding favourite but in what will be a tight fight for gold, current world champion Emma Finucane of GB will be contender as well as Emma Hinze of Germany and Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand.
WATCH THE OLYMPICS AT HHV
We’ll be screening all the Olympic Track Cycling at HHV in our clubroom, so you don’t have to miss a minute of it. We’ve WiFi so you can even Work from ‘drome if you also have some work to do.
Herne Hill Velodrome offers weekly taster sessions, so if you’ve been watching the Olympics and you’re inspired to give it a go, book yourself into our welcoming and normal-person-friendly Track Taster, where you certainly don’t have to be able to ride at elite-level speeds to take part and have fun. Click here for adult track tasters, and here for youth track tasters.