Amid the success of Team GB in the velodrome, cycling in Great Britain has become massively popular over the last few years. Olympic domination, paired with Tour de France success, has seen cyclists become national superstars.
The velodrome will be a key venue for Team GB in Tokyo too. There are medals aplenty up for grabs, with a variety of events on the track.
Taking in different – sometimes new – sports is one of the beautiful things about an Olympic year. Not everyone will be familiar with all of the events we will see in the velodrome in Tokyo – here’s a quick run through…
Omnium
The omnium is a competition made up of a set of races, comparable to the heptathlon or decathlon in track and field.
Previously including an individual pursuit, time trial and flying lap, the format of the omnium has been drastically altered for Tokyo 2020.
A tempo race has been added to the remaining trio of the points race, elimination race and scratch race. This change sees the omnium become more focussed on endurance over sprint speeds, providing riders with a drastically different challenge.
Points are handed out for each position in each race, with the winner receiving 40 points, second place receiving 38, third place receiving 36 and so on.
The elimination race is one of the most entertaining pieces of sport around. Every couple of laps, all the riders sprint. The last rider to cross the line is eliminated from the race.
It might sound simple, but it lends itself to intriguing tactical battles throughout as riders look to stay alive while conserving energy.
Run over 10km for men and 7.5km for women, the tempo race sees the riders sprint every lap after the first four. ‘Winning’ a lap earns a rider a point, while lapping the field wins 20 points. Being lapped by the field results in a rider losing 20 points.
The simplest of the four omnium events, the aim of the scratch race is to be the first rider over the line. At Tokyo 2020, the men will race for 15km and the women will race for 10km.
There can be different strategies – building an early lead or holding off for a late sprint – but the objective is the same regardless.
The final race of the Olympic omnium is the points race. The longest of the competition, the points race is over 25km for men and 20km for women. There is a sprint every 10 laps, with the top four scoring points – 5, 3, 2 and 1.
The final sprint is worth double points – which will see some riders preserve their energy for a late push – and like the tempo race, there are 20 points available for lapping the field.
Sprint
Two riders go head-to-head over three laps in the first round of sprints. It’s best of three, meaning riders need two victories to progress into the knockout stages. The best 16 riders compete in the knockout round over a 200-metre time trial.
While it might sound like a flat-out push, sprint racing involves a lot of strategic decisions, often seeing riders come to a complete standstill to force their opponent to take the lead. Riders will also look to quickly accelerate to catch their rival offguard.
Team Sprint
The men’s team sprint includes three riders, while the women’s version of the event is just two competitors.
Taking place over three laps, each rider is ‘responsible’ for a lap. The lead rider will get their team away on the first lap, before peeling off in a designated zone either side of the finish line.
The second rider will then lead for the second lap, before peeling off in the same zone. That leads the third rider to sprint alone for the final lap. The team with the quickest time over the three laps wins the race.
Team Pursuit
The team pursuit is a race over 16 laps of the track. Each team start on opposite sides, with the lead rider in the lowest position and their three teammates alongside them.
The rider in front for the start of the race has to get their team up to speed quickly, but carefully. This can often take the best part of 500 metres.
Once up to speed, the team will take turns to do the leg work at the front. The stints can vary in length depending on the strength of the rider, before they sweep up the banking to allow their teammates to pass and join on behind the final rider.
The most successful teams will minimise gaps between each other to get the full benefit of their teammates.
The team’s time is calculated by the third rider across the finish line at the end of the 16 laps. As a result, a rider will often drop out at some point during the race.
This will usually be the leader, who has to put in the extra effort early on and can suffer from fatigue in the latter stages as a result.
In a medal race, if a team ‘catches’ their opponents, they automatically win the race. Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins is a two-time Team Pursuit gold medallist.
Keirin
One of the most popular events in Japan, the Keirin is a race where the riders follow a pace-setting bike called a ‘derny’. Lining up on the pursuit line, the competitors wait for the derny to pass before following on behind.
The order behind the derny is allocated at random – position number one starts and the bottom of the track and slots in behind the derny.
Riders will often jostle for position behind the derny ahead of the sprint over the final two-and-a-half laps. The derny’s pace builds up prior to that, however, reaching a peak of 50kph for men and 45kph for women.
There’s a fair bit of variety in keirin races depending on the field. Some riders will favour holding off until a last-lap sprint, while others will prefer to push the pace early on.
888sport will have all the cycling betting odds for the keirin in Tokyo.
Madison
A new addition for Tokyo 2020 having missed the last few Olympic Games, the Madison is named after New York’s iconic venue Madison Square Garden.
It’s a race that is more complex most others, and one that British rider Mark Cavendish has enjoyed success in at the World Championships.
Competing in a pair, riders sprint every 20 laps with the winner receiving five points, second gets three, third get two and fourth gets one just like the points race in the omnium.
Despite being in a pair, only one rider is active in the race at a given time. The other circles the track at the top of the banking.
Switches will often occur to tag the better sprinter in as a sprint section approaches or sometimes just for a rest. The riders have to make contact with one another to change over, and will use this as an opportunity to help their teammate along.
The team that completes the most laps wins the race with the points scored used as a tiebreaker.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alastair Grant / AP Photo*
