Track time trial

In the track time trial, a track cycling event, cyclists compete individually against the clock to record the fastest time over the specified distance from a standing start.

The Kilo

At the UCI Track World Championships and Olympic events, the distance for senior men is usually 1000 metres, hence the event's alternative name: the 'Kilo', short for kilometre. As such, the event is popular with riders who specialise in the sprint. Women compete over 500 metres. These sprint time trials have been eliminated from the 2008 Olympics though, to make way for BMX cycling.

Riders who have performed best on previous occasions are seeded and ride last (giving the potential advantage of knowing what their opponents have done).

Quotes: (Cited from the Squadra Coppi website) "The kilo is known to produce the highest lactic acid levels on record. My blood was turned into battery-acid. Even my teeth would ache unbearably... I would commonly ride that fine-line of losing consciousness." - Sky Christopherson

The Hour

The "Blue Riband" track cycling feat is to break the hour record. Instead of racing against the clock over a set distance, the rider will set out to cover as much distance as possible in exactly 60 minutes.

The world record has been held by many of the greatest names in cycling - most of them road racing specialists with the necessary combination of speed and, above all, endurance - for example: Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Francesco Moser, Miguel Indurain, Tony Rominger.

Team Sprint

The Team Sprint, formerly called the Olympic sprint is a three-person team time trial held over three laps of a velodrome. Like the (much longer) team pursuit event, two teams race against each other, starting on opposite sides of the track. At the end of the first lap, the leading rider in each team pulls up the banking leaving the second rider to lead for the next lap; at the end of the second lap, the second rider does the same, leaving the third rider to complete the last lap on his own.