Skip to main content
BBC SPORT / CYCLING
Graphics Version | Change to International Version | BBC News Home
Sport Homepage | Olympics | Football | Cricket | Rugby Union | Rugby League | Tennis | Golf | Motorsport | Boxing | Athletics | Snooker | Horse Racing | Cycling | Paralympics | Sport Relief | Other sport... | 606 | Sport Academy | Fun and Games | Inside Sport | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales
Olympics Contents:  Event schedule | Olympics map | Team GB | Meet Monkey | Archery | Athletics | Badminton | Baseball | Basketball | Boxing | Canoeing | Cycling | Diving | Equestrian | Fencing | Football | Gymnastics | Handball | Hockey | Judo | Modern Pentathlon | Rowing | Sailing | Shooting | Softball | Swimming | Table Tennis | Taekwondo | Tennis | Triathlon | Volleyball | Weightlifting | Wrestling | Paralympics | London 2012

01:18 GMT, Friday, 17 March 2006

Chris Hoy's velodrome guide

The velodrome is the home of track cycling, where the speedsters of the sport fly around at up to 60mph.

It hosts a variety of events - the individual pursuit, the 'kilo', the madison and the keirin among others.

Chris Hoy is the current Olympic champion in the 'kilo' and a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist from Manchester in 2002.

He guides you around the twists and turns of the velodrome.

By Chris Hoy
Olympic champion



" The velodrome is different from venue to venue - it can vary in length from 250m to 500m. The one in Manchester, for example, is a 250m international standard velodrome.

A cutaway graphic of a velodrome Each track is banked to allow riders to fly round the corners without having to slow down at all.

Because of that, you can work up a good pace. I tend to get up to 50mph/80kmph in my events.

The track itself is marked up with a series of lines - red, black and blue.

The red line is known as the sprinter's line - riders have to go round this if they want to overtake a lead rider.


Then there's the black line.

That's the shortest route around the track and it's important to stay on that as much as possible.

Should you weave in or outside that it obviously costs you valuable time.

Further up the track is the blue stayer's line.

This is used in Madison races for riders to rest between efforts, and it can get fairly busy and bunched up there. "

Guide to track bikes




E-mail this to a friend
Related to this story:

History of track cycling (13 Dec 05 |  Get Involved )
The individual sprint (21 Sep 05 |  Get Involved )
Track time trial (21 Sep 05 |  Get Involved )
Individual pursuit (21 Sep 05 |  Get Involved )
Team sprint (21 Sep 05 |  Get Involved )
Team pursuit (21 Sep 05 |  Get Involved )
Points race (21 Sep 05 |  Get Involved )
Madison (21 Sep 05 |  Get Involved )
Keirin (21 Sep 05 |  Get Involved )

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Melbourne 2006
Commonwealth Games Federation
Guide to the Commonwealth
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites



SEARCH BBC SPORT: 

Sport Homepage | Olympics | Football | Cricket | Rugby Union | Rugby League | Tennis | Golf | Motorsport | Boxing | Athletics | Snooker | Horse Racing | Cycling | Paralympics | Sport Relief | Other sport... | 606 | Sport Academy | Fun and Games | Inside Sport | Northern Ireland | Scotland | Wales
Olympics Contents:  Event schedule | Team GB | Meet Monkey | Archery | Athletics | Badminton | Baseball | Basketball | Boxing | Canoeing | Cycling | Diving | Equestrian | Fencing | Football | Gymnastics | Handball | Hockey | Judo | Modern Pentathlon | Rowing | Sailing | Shooting | Softball | Swimming | Table Tennis | Taekwondo | Tennis | Triathlon | Volleyball | Weightlifting | Wrestling | Paralympics | London 2012

^ Back to top | BBC News Home | BBC Homepage | Feedback | Help | ©