Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles.
The men's points race in cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics consisted of a 160 lap points race with 16 sprints where points were awarded. The event was held on 24 August 2004 at the Athens Olympic Velodrome. There were 23 competitors from 23 nations, with each nation limited to one cyclist in the event. The event was won by Mikhail Ignatiev of Russia, the nation's first victory in the men's points race. Spain's Joan Llaneras, the defending champion, took silver; he was the first and only person to win multiple medals in the relatively short-lived points race, and ended with three medals after another gold in 2008. Guido Fulst of Germany took bronze, the first medal in the event for that nation since 1900.
The women's points race in cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics consisted of a 100 lap points race with 10 sprints where points were awarded. 5 points were given to the first finisher of each sprint, with 3 going to the second-place finisher, 2 going to the third place cyclist, and 1 going to the fourth place rider. Cyclists could also score points by lapping the main body of riders, known as the peloton. 20 points were gained by doing this, while 20 points were lost if the peloton lapped the cyclist.
Cycling has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics, at which a road race and five track events were held. Mountain bike racing entered the Olympic programme at the Atlanta Olympics, followed by BMX racing in 2008 and freestyle BMX in 2021. Prior to the 2020 Summer Olympics, all events were speed races, but the 2020 programme featured BMX freestyle for the first time.
Gregory Henderson is a New Zealand former professional track and road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2017. His career includes winning the 15-kilometre (9.3-mile) scratch race at the 2004 world championships and, in road cycling, winning the points competition at the Tour de Georgia in 2005 and 2008.
The men's Madison at the 2008 Summer Olympics was held on 19 August at the Laoshan Velodrome.
The men's points race at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 16 at the Laoshan Velodrome. There were 23 competitors from 23 nations. The event was won by Joan Llaneras of Spain, his second victory in the points race and third consecutive medal in the event. Llaneras was the only person, of any gender, to win multiple medals in the points race, which is no longer on the Olympic programme. His two gold medals made Spain only the second nation to win multiple golds in the men's event; Italy had three. Silver went to Roger Kluge of Germany. Great Britain earned its first medal in the men's points race with Chris Newton's bronze.
The 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was the World Championships for track cycling in 2012. They took place in Melbourne, Australia from 4 to 8 April 2012. The championships took place in the Hisense Arena which previously hosted the world championships in 2004 and from 2008 to 2010 a round of the World Cup as well as the track cycling at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the activity of using / riding bicycles, human-powered, wheeled vehicles, for purposes including transport, recreation, social interaction, exercise, sport, therapy, other purposes, or any combination thereof.
Aaron Gate is a New Zealand road and track cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Bolton Equities Black Spoke. He represented his country in track cycling at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics. Gate is the first New Zealand athlete to win four gold medals at a single Commonwealth Games.
The 2013 British National Track Championships were a series of track cycling competitions held from 25 to 29 September 2013, at the Manchester Velodrome. They were organised and sanctioned by British Cycling, and were open to British cyclists.
Makoto Iijima is a Japanese former professional road and track cyclist. Considered one of Japan's most successful cyclists in his decade, Iijima has claimed a total of nine track cycling medals at the Asian Championships, two silvers at the Asian Games, and three national time trial titles at the Japanese Championships. He also represented his nation Japan in three editions of the Olympic Games. He announced his retirement from professional cycling in October 2010 as a member of the Bridgestone–Anchor team.
Angelo Ciccone is an Italian amateur road and track cyclist. He has claimed four Italian national championship titles in track cycling, and later represented his nation Italy in two editions of the Olympic Games. Ciccone currently races for the 2013 season with Cycling Team Friuli under his head coach Roberto Bressan.
The 2014 British National Track Championships are a series of track cycling competitions held from 24–28 September 2014, at the Manchester Velodrome. They were organised and sanctioned by British Cycling, and were open to British cyclists.
The 2014 UEC European Track Championships was the fifth edition of the elite UEC European Track Championships in track cycling and took place at the Vélodrome Amédée Détraux in Baie-Mahault, Guadeloupe, France, between 16 and 19 October. The Event was organised by the European Cycling Union. All European champions are awarded the UEC European Champion jersey which may be worn by the champion throughout the year when competing in the same event at other competitions.
The 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championships for track cycling in 2016. They took place in London in the Lee Valley VeloPark from 2–6 March 2016.
Jennifer Marie Valente is an American professional racing cyclist who is the gold medal winner of the women's omnium at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Valente has ridden for UCI Women's Team Virginia's Blue Ridge–TWENTY24. She has won multiple gold medals in team pursuit championships, and won an Olympic silver medal in the team pursuit in 2016.
The men's madison event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 7 August 2021 at the Izu Velodrome. 32 cyclists from 16 nations competed.
The women's Madison event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 6 August 2021 at the Izu Velodrome. 30 cyclists from 15 nations competed.
The men's omnium event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 5 August 2021 at the Izu Velodrome. 20 cyclists from 20 nations competed.
