From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Track time trial
Track time trial
trial,
In the track time trial a track cycling event, cyclists com- used as the qualifying event for the sprint competition,
pete individually against the clock to record the fastest or as part of an Omnium competition. Velodromes have
time over the specified distance from a standing start. a line painted across the track at 200 m before the finish
line, for this purpose. Therefore, the size the track will
The bike determine where the 200-meter line is (for 250 m tracks,
it is about two-thirds of the way through the first bend;
Track time trial bikes differ from normal track bikes in for 200-meter tracks, it is the finish line; for 400-meter
two major ways; firstly they have two solid disc wheels tracks, it is the start line in the back straight). The clock
for aerodynamics, and secondly they use aero-bars to al- will start as they cross this line and stop when they reach
low the rider to adopt a more aerodynamic riding posi- the finish line.
tion, for the same reasons as in road individual time tri- Depending on the size of the track, riders have be-
als. The frames are often more streamlined to help cut tween one and three laps to build up speed before the
through the air. clock starts. They will ride around the very top of the
track as they near the start line, then drop down to the
Men - 1 km Time Trial bottom to gain as much speed as possible from rolling
down the steep inclined banking. The Flying 200 m is rid-
At the UCI Track World Championships, the distance for den on a standard track bike (drop handlebars, spoked
senior men is 1000 metres, hence the event’s alternative front wheel) when it is part of the Sprint competition,
name, the ’Kilo’, short for kilometer. Junior men race and often during the Omnium as well so riders need have
over 500m. Being such a short, high-intensity event, the only one bike.
kilo is popular with riders who specialise in the sprint. A fast time at elite level is just above 10 seconds for
The Kilo time trial was removed from Olympics pro- men, 12 seconds for women. The men’s record of 9.572
gramme after 2004, to make way for BMX racing. This led seconds was set by Kévin Sireau in Moscow, Russia on
to a number of Kilo riders, most notably Chris Hoy, focus- May 30, 2009.
ing on other sprint events.
This event is a straight out race against the clock
from a standing start over 1000m. Most indoor tracks are Pursuit
250m in length, so a kilo is usually held over 4 laps. Other The other time trial event on the track is the individual
common track lengths are 167m (6 laps), 333m (3 laps) pursuit, where two riders start on opposite sides of the
or 400m (2.5 laps). Riders will keep to the black line at track and ’pursue’ each other over a set distance (4000m
the bottom of the track to ensure they have to cover the for senior men, 3000m for junior men and women). The
least distance over the 1000m. Riders usually only get 1 winner is either the rider with the quickest time, or the
attempt to set a time, and the winner of the event is sim- rider who catches and passes their opponent. Whilst not
ply the rider to post the quickest time. strictly a time trial (the winner being declared after a
A fast time at elite level is around 1 minute 5 seconds. series of knock-out rounds, rather than simply being
fastest), the pursuit uses very similar bikes and training
Women - 500m Time Trial regimes to time trialling, and often riders who excel at
pursuit are also proficient road time trialists (such as
The Women’s version of the event is held over 500m. Bradley Wiggins and Chris Boardman).
Other than the race distance this is the same as the men’s A variant of this is the team pursuit, where 4 men or 3
Kilo event, with the fastest rider over the distance de- women ride as a team, taking turns pushing hard on the
clared the winner. This event was also removed from the front and resting at the back. They must stay together;
Olympic programme after 2004 to make way for the BMX. the time is taken not from the lead rider, but from the 3rd
A fast time at elite level is around 35 seconds. rider across the finish line. In the men’s competition, on-
ly 3 of the 4 riders must finish.
Flying 200 m time trial A fast time at elite level is around 4 minutes 15 sec-
onds for men (4 minutes for men’s team), 3 minutes 30
The flying 200 m time trial (so-called because riders have seconds for women (3 minutes 20 seconds for women’s
a flying start, as opposed to the standing start in the kilo/ team).
500 m) is rarely held on its own. It is more commonly
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Track time trial
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