Track cycling at the Paris 2024 Olympics

Track cycling has been on the programme of every modern Olympic Games, with the exception of 1912.

Here is all you need to know about the sport at Paris 2024.

Track cycling at the Olympics takes place on a 250m round track in a bowl-shaped arena called a velodrome.

In Paris, this is the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, which was built in 2014 and has previously held both the World and European Championships.

Track bikes are different to road bikes in that they are fixed gear and have no brakes.

Track cycling events at the Paris Olympics run from 5-11 August.

Track cycling at the Olympics consists of six events, all of which are contested by both men and women.

The sprint events are the individual sprint, team sprint and keirin.

The endurance events are the omnium, team pursuit and madison.

Two riders line up head-to-head to race over three laps. From the quarter-finals onwards, these are best-of-three heats.

Though these races are all about pure speed, you may see tactics at play too – riders may come to a complete standstill at the start, called a track stand, in a bid to lure their opposition to take the front in a cat-and-mouse move.

The team sprint features three riders, competing in a team time trial held over three laps.

Two teams line up on opposite sides of the track, and each rider is required to lead for a lap before peeling off. The clock stops when the last rider crosses the finish line.

In the keirin, riders follow a pacing motorbike or electric bike called a derny, which gradually increases in speed from 30km/h to 50km/h.

Before the start of the race, riders draw lots to decide on their position behind the derny.

After 750m, the derny peels off the track and a three-lap sprint begins.

The omnium is a test of all-round endurance, and sees riders compete over four events in one day – the scratch race, tempo race, elimination race and points race.

Points are awarded based on a rider’s ranking in each event, contributing to a general classification that decides medal winners.

Teams of four riders start on opposite sides of the track and race over four kilometres.

Teams win by either recording the fastest time or by ‘catching’ their opponents.

The time is decided by the third rider crossing the line – the fourth rider does not need to finish.

A relay race on the track, two riders compete per team with points awarded for an intermediary sprint every 10 laps.

While one rider races, the other slows down to rest around the top of the track, before swapping places with their team-mate by the means of a handsling back into the action.

The classification is decided on the total of points won at the end of the race, with double points awarded for the final sprint.

Great Britain has won the most Olympic medals in track cycling with 79 (33 gold).

Team GB’s Sir Jason Kenny is the most successful cyclist in Olympic history from any country, while Dame Laura Kenny is the most successful female cyclist.

One to watch is Emma Finucane. The Welshwoman is the current individual sprint world champion and could be in line for a hat-trick of medals across the three sprint events – individual sprint, team sprint and keirin.

In the team sprint, she will line up alongside Katy Marchant and Sophie Capewell. Earlier this year, the trio won Track Nations Cup gold – the first gold medal won by a British women’s team sprint squad since late 2012.

In the team pursuit, GB’s women are the reigning world champions while the men are the current European champions.

This is Team GB’s first Olympics without either of the Kennys since 2004.

GB will also be without two-time Olympic gold medallist Katie Archibald, after she broke two bones in her leg and tore ligaments off the bone after tripping over a step in her garden in June.