sprint

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Before a sprint

The sprint is a track cycling event involving a one-on-one match race between opponents who, unlike in the individual pursuit, start next to each other.

Racing style

The event is sometimes called the 1000 metre sprint (the women's sprint is contested over 750m), but - unlike the sprints in athletics - cycling track sprinters do not start sprinting from the starting line, and also there are no lanes. The early parts of each race will often be highly tactical with riders pedaling slowly, as they carefully watch each other and try to get their rivals to make the first move. Some even bring their bicycles to a complete stop, balanced upright with both feet still on the pedals (a track stand), in an attempt to make the other rider take the lead. The reason for this apparently strange behavior, as in many track cycling events, is aerodynamics.

When racing at high speed, the rider who manages to stay just behind their opponent can 'slipstream', expending less effort. They are riding through air that is being pulled along behind the 'lead out' rider, thus reducing the speed of the wind felt by the second rider. Just before the finish, the trailing rider pulls out of the slipstream, and using their fresher legs may be able to overtake their opponent just before the line. To prevent this, the leading rider may choose to accelerate quickly before the last lap, hoping to catch his opponent unaware and establish a large enough gap to negate the aerodynamic effect.

Rules and Qualifying/Race Format

Only the last 200 m is actually timed. The final 200 m is measured along a 'sprint line' close to the inside edge of the track. The 'lead out' rider will often hug this line forcing his opponent to come the long way round; he is not allowed to swing significantly off this line and deliberately impede his opponent.

The first round of competition is the 200m Time Trial. In this round each rider completes 2 warm up laps and then completes the final 200 metres, just under a lap, at full speed to attempt to set the fastest time to qualify for the event. In the Men's event the top 32 riders qualify for the main competition, while in the Women's event it is usually the top 24. The top riders are seeded in the following rounds, meaning the first placed rider will face the 32nd placed and so on. Knock out rounds then proceed, initially on a one race basis but then on a best-of three-race format from the quarter-final stage. Riders defeated in the earlier rounds may get a chance to continue in the competition through the repechage races.

Great Britain currently hold the major titles in this event. Chris Hoy, former World Champion and Olympic Champion, and Victoria Pendleton, World and Olympic Champion, are World Record holders in Individual sprint.

Famous sprinters

Famous track sprinters of the past include Britain's Reg Harris, Australia's Dunc Gray and Sid Patterson, Germany's Michael Hubner and Japan's Koichi Nakano. The former world and current Olympic champion is Chris Hoy, who was recently knighted in the British royal court.

Variants

Keirin

The Keirin is a variant of the sprint in which a higher number (usually 6-8, or 9 in Japan) of sprinters compete in a very different format. Riders are paced in the early laps by (and are required to stay behind) a derny motorcycle, which slowly increases the speed of the race from 25km/h to about 50km/h. It then leaves the track with about 600-700 metres remaining. The first rider across the finish line in the high-speed (sometimes 70 km/h) finish is the winner.

Olympic sprint

Despite its name, the Olympic sprint (also known as the team sprint) is not a conventional match sprint contest but a type of short distance three-man team pursuit held over three laps of a velodrome. Like the (much longer) team pursuit event, two teams race against each other, starting on opposite sides of the track, but at the end of the first lap, the leading rider in each team drops out of the race by riding up the banking leaving the second rider to lead for the second lap; at the end of the second lap, the second rider does the same, leaving the third rider to complete the last lap on his own. In the women's event, teams of two compete over a two-lap distance.

Chariot

The chariot is a short, usually one lap, race. Depending on track size, between 4 and 8 cyclists start from a standing start, and do an all out sprint for one lap. The first rider across the finish line is the winner.

See also

Cycling portal

• Cycling sprinter