An Olympic sport since Athens 1896,
cycling is still the major means of transportation in some parts of the world.
There are four disciplines in the Olympics: Road Cycling, Track
Cycling, Mountain Bike and BMX (introduced in Beijing
2008).
Road Race
The first Olympic road race was two laps of the marathon course, for a
total of 87 kilometres.
Women entered the road race in Los
Angeles 1932 and time trials were introduced at the next Olympics held on American
soil; 12 years later in Atlanta 1996.
Road Cycling
There are four Olympic events in Road Cycling: the men's and
women's individual road races and time trials.
Road Race
The men's road race covers 239km, while the women race over 120km.
Time Trial
Riders enter the time trial at 90 second intervals and race against
the clock. The men race over 46.8km and the women over 31.2km.
Track Cycling
It's in the velodrome where the riders dress up in futuristic suits
and helmets to try and get the quickest cut through the air barrier.
The aerodynamic bikes are raced around an oval track, banked at 42
degrees.
Olympic Track Cyclists
Cycle track includes individual and team events, sprint and endurance
races, pursuits, time trials and a cat and mouse, first-over-the-line.
There are events for men and women in the time trial, sprint,
individual pursuit and points race. While only men race in the 4,000m team pursuit,
Madison, Keirin and Olympic sprint.
The Madison
Something like tag-wrestling, where two cyclists are on a team but
only one from each team is on the track at a time.
After the mass start, points are awarded to the top finishers at the
intermediate sprints and finishing line. When changing partners, the incoming cyclist is
propelled onto the track by a hand sling from his team-mate leaving the track.
The Keirin
Raced over 2,000 metres, riders are paced for the first 1,400 metres
by a motorised derny then they sprint to the finish.
The Olympic Sprint
A team sprint event with three riders on each team; with each rider
leading the team for one lap.
The two teams competing against each other start on opposite sides of
the track as they try to catch the other team, or finish three laps of the track first.
The time for the team is given when the final rider of the team
crosses the line.
| Men |
Women |
1km time trial
Individual pursuit
Points race
Sprint
4,000m team pursuit
Keirin
Madison
Olympic Sprint |
500m time trial
Individual pursuit
Points race
Sprint |
Mountain Bike
Mountain biking as an Olympic sport first appeared at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.
Organised competitions had been going on for about 20 years by then,
with the Velo Club Mount Tamalpais, from San Francisco, being credited for establishing
mountain biking as a sport.
Olympic Mountain Bikers
There are two cross-country events in the Olympic Games, one for
men and one for women.
The Men's race is between 40 and 50 kilometres, with cyclists needing
to manoeuvre over trees, branches, rocks and streams.
The Women's race is some 10km shorter, although the exact distances
are not known until organisers have seen the weather forecast the night before.
Optimal finishing times for the leading men are expected to be around
two hours and 15 minutes, for six to seven laps of the course. Women would be expected to
complete their five to six laps in around two hours.
BMX
Bicycle motor cross (BMX) was added to the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008.
In 1981, along with George Esser, Gerrit Does formed the International
BMX Federation (IBMXF) and in 1982, the first ever World Championships of BMX was held in
Holland.
BMX in The Olympics
In the Olympics, BMX races are held on circuits of around 350 metres;
including jumps, banked corners and other obstacles.
Eight riders compete in each heat (qualifying rounds, quarter-finals,
semi-finals and finals); with the top four qualifying for the next round.
There are individual events for men, and women.
Paul Masson,
of France, set the early tone in the cycling event at the Olympics, winning three of the
six cycling events (1km time trial, 10km track race and 1,000m sprint) at the inaugural Athens 1896 Olympics.
Jeannie
Longo, of France, had dominated women's cycling for 10 years, before she finally
struck gold in the Atlanta 1996 road race. Added to a
silver in the individual time trail, the bronze in the same event at Sydney 2000 and a road race silver in Barcelona 1992, Longo's medal total amounts to four.
Christa
Luding-Rothenburger, from the former East Germany, is the only person in any sport to
have won medals in both the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics - in the same year.
Better known in Olympic circles as a speed skater, Christa
Luding-Rothenburger won the cycling track silver medal in Seoul
1988 and followed up with a gold at the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics, in the
1,000m speed skating event, and a silver in the 500m speed skating. She also won gold in
that event at Sarajevo 1984 and
bronze in Albertville 1992.
            
       
     
UCI:
The mission of the International Cycling Union (UCI) is to develop and promote all aspects
of cycling without discrimination of any kind, in close cooperation with National
Federations and major associates.
Cycling Federations
British Cycling:
National Cycling Centre, Stuart Street, Manchester, M11 4DQ.
Canadian
Cycling Association:
The Canadian Cycling Association is the national body for the sport of cycling in Canada.
Cycling Australia:
The Australian Cycling Federation help develop and promote competitive cycling in
Australia for the benefit and enjoyment of all members.
Cycling NZ:
New Zealand Cycling Federation's official website.
USA Cycling:
Since the creation of the modern bicycle, the United States has been a dominant force in
cycling competition. Before World War II, cycling was second only to baseball as a
national sporting pastime.
Not in English
Bund Deutscher Radfahrer
(Germany).
Danmarks Cykle Union
(Denmark).
Fédération Français de Cyclisme
(France).
Federazione Ciclistica
Italiana (Italy).
Österreichischer
Radsport-Verband (Austria).
Swiss Cycling (Switzerland).
Cycling Links
Cycling
Links:
Over 4,000 categorised cycling links.
Cycling News:
Cycling results and news service as well as articles on form and fitness and interviews
with cyclists.
Giro di
Italia:
Coverage of Italy's famous bike race from Gazetta dello Sport.
La
Vuelta:
Tour of Spain.
Le Tour de France:
Probably the most famous bike race in the world.
Tour de
Suisse:
Not quite in the same league as the Tour de France but there are some hard mountain stages
here too.
Bicycle Touring
Bicycle Tour:
Over 5,000 bicycle rides worldwide including road biking, mountain biking, tandem riding.
Search for length of days, location or type of ride.
Bike
Travel:
There are plenty of opportunities to get on a bike, out on the road and discover the world
cheaply.
Down The Road:
Tim and Cindie Travis' account of cycling around the world. Budget travel at its best.
Get Pedalling:
Bicycle trails, cycling routes and bike Maps. Search through over a thousand bike routes
in the 50 states and Canada -- mountain bike routes, family routes and even tours outside
of the US.
National Bicycle Tour
Director's Association:
Listing and calendar of bicycle tours 3 days or longer throughout the United States,
Canada, Mexico, and Europe.
Cycling.
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