A guide to cycling at Rio 2016

Cycling featured on the programme at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, and is one of only five sports to have featured at every Games. There are currently four cycling disciplines on the Olympic programme.

August 6 - Men Road Race August 7 - Women Road Race August 10 - Women and Men Time Trial

Event Schedule - Road - (Correct at 06.06.2016)

The road race is a mass-start event, and the first rider to cross the finish line will be declared the winner. For the time trial, riders will start at regular intervals and the fastest rider over the course in each category will be declared the winner.

Road Race For the road race, the men will cover 256.4km, and the women 137km. It mixes some of Rio de Janeiro’s iconic backdrops such as Copacabana and Ipanema with some testing sections including the Grumari Circuit and the climb up to Canoas / Vista Chinesa.

• Starts and finishes in Copacabana • Passes through Ipanema, Barra and Reserva Beach • Includes laps of the Grumari Circuit (one lap for women and four laps for men); this circuit includes two climbs: Grumari, a narrow climb and descent in a forested area which averages 7% over 1.2km with a maximum gradient of 13% and the Grota Funda climb which averages 4.5% over 2.1km with a maximum gradient of 6%; the circuit also includes a cobble stone section of 2km; • Includes a long coastal section at Reserva Beach and Barra; • Includes laps of the Canoas/Vista Chinesa Circuit (one for women and three for men); the circuit starts with the Canoas climb continuing with the Vista Chinesa climb over 8.9km uphill followed by a technical descent of 6km. Vista Chinesa is a monument located in Tijuca National Park • Include a flat section of 20 kilometres through Ipanema and Copacabana.

Time trial • Starts and finished in Tim Maia Square along Pontal Beach • 29.8km long, to be complete twice by the men and once by the women • Includes the Grumari Circuit from the road race

Rio 2016 – Maps

The cycling road race will start and finish at Fort Copacabana. Arguably Rio de Janeiro's most famous neighbourhood, Copacabana is defined by its 4km-long crescent-shaped beach. Fort Copacabana is a military base built on the headland at the south end of Copacabana Beach. As well as road cycling, this venue will be used for the triathlon and open water swimming events.

Road Race: Men - Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ) / Women - Marianne Vos (NED) Time Trial: Men - Bradley Wiggins (GBR) / Women - Kristin Armstrong (USA)

Rio 2016 – Road Cycling Race Manual

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August 11-16

Event Schedule - Track - (Correct at 06.06.2016)

Rio 2016 – Training schedule

The Olympic track cycling programme features five events.

Team sprint In the men’s competition, teams of three race over three laps, whereas for women, teams of two race over two laps. Each rider in the team must lead for one lap of the race. In the case of a tie (to the closest one-thousandth of a second), the team with the fastest time over the last lap will be declared the winner.

Keirin Riders in the Keirin start in a bunch behind a motorized device in order to progressively reach a specific speed. The pacemaker starts at 30km/h for men and 25km/h for women, increases to 50km/h for men and 45 km/h for women, then exits the track with two and a half (2½) laps to go, leaving the riders to sprint for the win.

Sprint After a time-trial qualifying phase to determine the 18 fastest and their seeding order, riders come race head to head from the 1/16 finals. From the quarter-finals, two-up matches will be held over two races (with a third deciding race, if necessary).

Team Pursuit Competing teams of four riders start on opposite sides of the velodrome and race over 4,000m. The winning team is the one that records the fastest time or in the finals, catches its opponents.

Omnium The Omnium is disputed over two consecutive days and is made up of the following six events: Scratch race : a bunch race over 15km for men and 10km for women. Individual pursuit: the race distance is 4,000m for men and 3,000m for women. Elimination race: a bunch race during which the last rider crossing the line at each intermediate sprint (every 2 laps) is eliminated. Time trial: the race distance is 1km for men and 500m for women. Flying lap: race against the clock with a flying start. Points race: men cover 40km and women cover 25km. The final placing is determined according to accumulated points won by riders in intermediate sprints and by laps gained on the main field.

The final classification is established as follows: the points accumulated by the riders over the first 5 events, on the basis of the points scale in force, are added up. During the 6th and final race, this total may increase or decrease according to the points won or lost by the rider. The winner is the rider who has the highest total of points at the end of the 6th event.

The Rio Olympic Velodrome is located in the Barra Olympic Park. The Olympic Velodrome’s 250m track will be of Siberian pine, banked to an angle of 12 degrees at its shallowest point and 42 degrees at its steepest point. Spectator capacity is 5,800.

The Barra Olympic Park is at the heart of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The new 1.18 million square-metre Olympic Park, constructed on a former motor racing venue in the west of Rio, will host 16 Olympic sports and nine Paralympic sports. It is 10 minutes from the Olympic and Paralympic village. After the Games, the Rio Olympic Velodrome will become an integral part of Brazil’s Olympic Training Centre.

Team Sprint: Men - Team Great Britain / Women - Team Germany Keirin: Men - Chris Hoy (GBR) / Women - Victoria Pendleton (GBR) Sprint: Men - Jason Kenny (GBR) / Women - Anna Meares (AUS) Team Pursuit: Men - Team Great Britain / Women - Team Great Britain Omnium: Men - Lasse Norman Hansen (DEN) / Women - Laura Trott (GBR)

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August 17 - Seeding Run August 18 - Men Quarterfinals August 19 - Men and Women Semifinals and Finals

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Riders launch themselves from an eight-metre high start ramp and race over a track comprising banked corners and obstacles such as jumps alternating with short pedalling sections. The event will start with an individual time trial run, with each rider racing the track once to determine the seeding for the next phase of competition. From the quarter-finals onwards, heats of eight riders will set off in a bid to get to the finish line first.

The BMX Olympic Centre is constructed in the X Park section of the Deodoro Olympic Park. It will be 400m long and will have seating for 7500 spectators.

The Deodoro Park is the second largest concentration of competition venues at Rio 2016. Its nine venues will host 11 Olympic sports including BMX and mountain bike. After the Olympic Games the BMX Olympic Centre will host athletes both for high-level training and for leisure activities.

Men - Maris Strombergs (LAT) Women - Mariana Pajon (COL)

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August 20 - Women Cross-country August 21 - Men Cross-country

Event Schedule - MTB - (Correct at 06.06.2016)

The mountain bike events for both men and women are mass start events. Riders are seeded into a starting grid according to their current UCI ranking. They complete one start loop, followed by a specified number of laps of the course. The winner is the first to cross the finish line.

The mountain bike track, 5440m long, will offer panoramic views of Rio de Janeiro. The terrain is hilly with open grassland covered by low shrubbery, offering a fantastic landscape for this discipline. Riders will pass several times in front of the public, making it very spectator-friendly. There will be seating for 5,000 plus standing room for another 20,000 spectators.

After the Games, the training track will be used as a leisure and high level training facility.

Men - Jaroslav Kulhavy (CZE) Women - Julie Bresset (FRA)

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Where to watch the Olympics