Cycling 5: Varieties of Racing
It seems as if bicycle racing ought to be simple and straightforward, but it's not. At least, track racing isn't.
There are essentially three types of road racing: The mass start or in-line road race, the time trial, and the stage race. Only the first two are Olympic events.
In the Olympics, the mass start road race for men is made up of repeated circuits of a 12- to 18-kilometer course, for a total distance of 210 to 240 kilometers. The women's event has ranged from 79.2 to 126 kilometers. Outside of the Olympics, many mass start races are from point to point, often from one major city to another.
In the time trial, riders start at intervals of 1-½ minutes and the best time wins. The men's Olympic race ranges from 45 to 55 kilometers, the women's from 25 to 35 kilometers.
The most famous bicycle race of all, the Tour de France, is a stage race. A stage race is like a series of point-to-point road races, conducted over a period of days.
Track racing includes individual and team pursuits, points races, time trials, sprints, the Madison, and the keirin.
In the pursuit events, competing racers or four-person teams start on opposite sides of the track. The theoretical goal is to overtake the opponent, though that doesn't happen often. The winner is usually the racer or team that covers the distance in the shortest time. In the team pursuit, the time is recorded for the team's third finisher. (The reason for the unusual start is to make the race a true test of speed by preventing a cyclist from drafting on the opponent to save energy for the finish.) The Olympic distances are 4,000 meters for men, 3,000 for women.
The points race is the most difficult for a spectator to follow, since the rider who crosses the finish line first isn't necessarily the winner. The men's Olympic event is run over 40 kilometers, the women's over 25 kilometers. Points are awarded for sprints that take place every two kilometers, with the winner getting 5 points, the second-place finisher 3, the third-place finisher 2, and the fourth-place finisher 1 point. A rider who has been lapped can't take part in sprints, and a rider who has been lapped twice has to leave the race.
In the time trial, competitors race against the clock from a standing start over a distance of 1,000 meters for men, 500 meters for women.
The match sprint, also known as a scratch race, is “raced” over 1,000 meters, but only the last 200 meters counts. For the first 800 meters, the two competitors move slowly around the track, each trying to avoid taking the lead. Then they sprint to the finish, the one trailing usually having a slight advantage because of the other rider's draft.
The Olympic sprint is a relatively new event, which was added to the Olympic program in 2000. It's a three-team, three-lap event in which each team member takes the lead for a lap, allowing teammates to draft behind him. The teams start on opposite sides of the track, as in the pursuit race. A team's time is the time of the third rider to cross the finish line.
The Madison is named for Madison Square Garden because the basic idea came from the two-cyclist, six-day races formerly held there. It's a 60-kilometer race with a sprint for points every 5 kilometers. The sprints are scored as in the points race. There are two cyclists on a team, but only one is on the track at a time. When it's time to switch, the riders clasp hands and the cyclist who's leaving the track slings his teammate into the race.
The keirin originated after World War II in Japan, where it is a very popular sport, with parimutuel betting. This is a 2,000-meter event in which the cyclists ride behind a motorbike for 1,400 meters, getting up to speeds of about 45 kilometers per hour. The motorbike then pulls off the track and the cyclists sprint to the finish.