Pointing Towards London 2012 – Track Cycling

 Author: Chris Maher, Pictures courtesy of: Chris Maher | Photography

 The first part of the Olympic Track Cycling Qualification Events are now complete. And we are halfway through the 2 year Qualifying Period. A collective table has been produced by the UCI showing the Countries, whom have succeeded in collecting points towards entry to each event & the top five Nations are shown below (see table 1).  It is no longer possible for a Nation to gain more than one medal per Event, this time round, as had been in previous Olympics. So we will have to look the times/ performances of individual Athletes to gauge their form & choose the most likely one to gain a Medal.

There are five Events for the Men & the same five Events for the Women.

1. Individual Sprint
2. Team Sprint
3. Team Pursuit
4. Keirin
5. Omnium

  The first four Events are traditional Track Cycling Events, but the Omnium, introduced this year has a 6 part schedule. A qualifying round, followed by the 5 elements of racing. So a strong overall performance will be required to take the victory.

Table 1: Points collated at the end of the 1st Qualifying Period

Olympic Points 

We started off gaining Olympic Points with the UCI European Track Championships in Portugal.

We then moved onto the 4 rounds of the UCI Track World Cup, Firstly in Melbourne Australia, then in Cali Columbia, Then in Beijing China, before finishing in the UK at Manchester in February 2011.

The final Points Event were offered at the UCI Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, Holland.

Judging from the Points gained so far, there is a strong possibility that Team GB will contend most Medals on offer. That said, between now & the start of the Olympics, every Nation is expected to notch up a gear or two. Our weakest Medal hope, looks to be the Women’s Omnium, but don’t rule us out of the equation yet! Having the Games in our own back garden will boost the determination & confidence to deliver beyond their every expectation. After all… Britain’s still got Talent!

Olympic Track Cycling Schedule

The Olympic schedule has now been released & the first round of tickets made available.

02 August 2012

Men’s Team Pursuit Q, Men’s Team Sprint, Women’s Team Sprint.

03 August 2012

Men’s Team Pursuit, Women’s Keirin, Women’s Team Pursuit Q.

04 August 2012

Men’s Omnium Q, Men’s Sprint Q.

04 August 2012

Men’s Omnium 1 & 2, Men’s Sprint Minor Placements, Women’s Team Pursuit.

05 August 2012

Men’s Omnium 3, Women’s Sprint Q.

05 August 2012

Men’s Omnium 4 & 5, Men’s Sprint 1/4s, Women’s Sprint Minor Placements.

06 August 2012

Men’s Sprint, Women’s Omnium Q 1 & 2, Women’s Sprint 1/4s.

07 August 2012

Men’s Keirin Q, Women’s Omnium 3.

07 August 2012

Men’s Keirin, Women’s Omnium 4 & 5, Women’s Sprint

Britain’s most likely contenders are  

Men’s Sprint               Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny or Matt Crampton

Men’s Team Sprint      Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny & Matt Crampton

Men’s Team Pursuit                Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas, Bradley Wiggins, Steven Burke, Andrew Tennant or Ben Swift.

Men’s Keirin               Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny or Matt Crampton

Men’s Omnium           Ed Clancy, Sam Harrison or Pete Kennaugh

Women’s Sprint          Victoria Pendleton, Rebecca James or Jessica Varnish

Women’s Team Sprint            Victoria Pendleton, Jessica Varnish or Shanze Reade

Women’s Team Pursuit           Wendy Houvenaghel, Lizzie Armistead, Jo Rowsell, Sarah Storey, Dani King, Rebecca Romero or Laura Trott

Women’s Keirin          Victoria Pendleton, Jessica Varnish or Rebecca James

Women’s Omnium      Lizzie Armitstead or Laura Trott

The official Team GB Track Cycling Athletes won’t be revealed till around May 2012 having completed the 2^nd Qualifying Sessions that ends with the UCI Track World Championships from Melbourne, Australia. In the mean time, I will be following the progression of all possible contenders & reporting here from time to time.