Olympic Track Cycling Men’s Team Pursuit: Great Britain won the gold and broke their own world record while at it. Ed Clancy, Stephen Burke, Peter Kennaugh and Geraint Thomas. They crossed at 3 minutes, 51.659 seconds knocking a second off the old record. Bradley Wiggins was in the crowd and the team did a victory lap to the happy spectators.
| Gold |
Great Britain |
|
| Silver |
Australia |
|
| Bronze |
New Zealand |
Olympic Track Cycling Women’s Keirin Results: Another Gold for the British cycling athletes as the women won the Keirin as well!
| Gold | PENDLETON Victoria Great Britain | |
| Silver | GUO Shuang China | |
| Bronze | LEE Wai Sze Hong Kong |
In a Keirin race cyclists sprint for victory after a paced start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer called a derny. Initially it makes laps of the track at the slow speed of about 25 kilometres per hour (16 mph) gradually increasing to about 50 kilometres per hour (31 mph) followed by up to seven riders that are all jockeying for position. The pacer usually leaves the track approximately 600 to 700 metres before the end. In the Olympic race it leaves the track with 2.5 laps to go of the full eight-lap race. Then it’s an all-out jostle and sprint and the first rider to finish the race from this point is the winner. Finishing speeds are usually around 70 kph.
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Kierin Race
About the track: There are more world championship and Olympic medals available to be won in track cycling than all the other cycling disciplines combined. There are 10 Olympic track cycling events —five for men and five for women — in London 2012. They will be held in London in the specifically built racing velodrome. With the increasing popularity of cycling more people are learning what a velodrome is.
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Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement curve. Bicycles for velodromes have no brakes. They employ a single fixed rear gear, or cog, that does not freewheel. This helps maximize speed, reduces weight and avoids sudden braking while nevertheless allowing the rider to slow by pushing back against the pedals.
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- Inside Olympic Velodrome
Olympic organizers wanted the world’s fastest track and so they have designed the track’s geometry and building to make that possible. At its steepest point the Olympic track angles 42 degrees. The inside of the dome has also been configured with special internal conditions to keep the temperatures and air completely still to optimize the chances of records being broken. Riders must maintain a speed of at least 30 kph on the corner banks just to keep upright, but most average race speeds are over 60 kph.
New to Olympic Track Cycling is a race called the Omnium. In this race each rider must compete in and complete six separate races. Three races are each held on two consecutive days with three races each day. Men’s races are August 4th and 5th and the women races August 6th and 7th. The distances vary from a single 250 meter lap of the Velodrome track to a 16 kilometer race for men, and 10 kilometer race for women.
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So now that you are an expert check out the track cycling its an exciting event to watch. Olympic track racing is from August 2-7.
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