Cycling Australia Senior Track National Championships

30 January - 2 February 2013
Dunc Gray Velodrome, Sydney

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SPRINT
The sprint is one of the oldest track cycling events, first making its first appearance at the World Championships in Chicago in 1893.

It is a classic short distance event in which two riders cover three laps, of which only the final 200 metres is timed. The special requirements in the sprint are strength, speed and tactics. Sudden and dramatic changes in speed, stand-still attempts, and feints are typical ways to surprise an opponent. Riders obtain a seeding through the qualifying 200 metre flying time trial and from then on race head to head. From the quarter finals stage onwards the riders contest best of three races.

INDIVIDUAL TIME TRIALS (men 1km / women 500m)
Time trials are a race against the clock with no room for error. The difference between gold and silver can be as little as a thousandth of a second.

The bike is locked into a special starting gate and the rider must time their first pedal stroke to match the gate release. From the standing start they must quickly gain maximum speed and maintain it for the distance. In the event of a false start the rider is permitted another start. Only two starts are allowed.

KEIRIN
Keirin was created in the 1940’s and is the Japanese version of the traditional sprint event. Up to seven riders compete over 2000m (8 laps).  A special motorised bike called a derny leads the field for the first 5½ laps starting at 30km/h and bringing the riders up to a speed of  50km/h (25km/h to 45km/h for women). Cyclists manoeuvre for the best position before the derny leaves the track. Then the battle of strength, speed and courage begins.

TEAM SPRINT
The team sprint pits two teams of three riders (two riders for women) against each other and the clock over three laps (two laps for women) of the track. The task of the starting rider is to get out of the gate cleanly and bring the team up to high speed as quickly as possible. After one lap the first rider peels off to allow the next rider to make the pace.

The leading rider must not swing up until a full lap is complete and must peel off between an area of 15 metres before and after their start line, otherwise the team will be disqualified.

In the event of a false start the team is permitted another start. Only two starts are allowed.

INDIVIDUAL PURSUIT (men 4km / women 3km / u19 men 3km / u19 women 2km)
The individual pursuit is an endurance event and is conducted as a knock out tournament. The goal is to ride the fastest time over the distance. The riders are seeded based on their times in the qualifying round. In qualifying all riders complete the distance to post a time but in the finals if a competitor overtakes his rival he is declared the winner. The fastest two cyclists in the first round qualify for the gold medal race and the next two fastest contest the bronze medal final.

A cool head is needed in a pursuit as coaches and cyclists must determine how fast to ride to make it through to the next round and still have fuel in the tank for the medal race. Body position is also important, as an aerodynamic position will limit the amount of air resistance that in turn increases the cyclist’s speed.

In the event of a false start from the gate a rider is permitted another start. Only two starts are allowed.

POINTS RACE (men 40km / women 25km / u19 men 25km / u19 women 20km)
This is an event where the final placings are determined according to accumulated points won by riders during sprints or by taking laps on their opponents. Points (5,3,2,1) are awarded to the first four across the line in the intermediate sprints held every ten laps and at the finish.  20 points are given to a rider who laps the main field and any rider who drops a lap on the main field loses 20 points.

At the end of the race if two or more riders are equal on points the places in the final sprint determine who wins.

The Points Race is a numerical challenge for riders who must know where they are placed throughout the race to enable them to develop tactics to win. Speed, endurance, concentration and the ability to react quickly are the hallmarks of a successful points’ racer.

TEAM PURSUIT (men 4km / women 3km / u19 men 4km / u19 women 3km)
The Team Pursuit is a real test of technique and teamwork. Four endurance cyclists (3 for women) comprise a pursuit team and their success relies on how well they work together. The rider on the front must keep the pace as high as possible but must not ride so fast that he drops any of his following team mates. The cyclists within a team must ride as close as possible to the rear wheel of the rider in front of them to gain every possible aerodynamic benefit. The front rider will swing up the track at the end of his “turn” and must smoothly rejoin his team. The pace is then set by the rider now on the front.

The time is taken on the front wheel of the third rider across the line. In the mens event it is often the case that one team member will not complete the distance. Sometimes this is due to an extraordinary effort put in before dropping out or because a rider has been unable to maintain the pace of his team mates.

In the qualifying round each team shall ride alone on the track against the clock.  The teams with the two best times ride off in the final for first and second places; the next two fastest teams ride off in the final for third and fourth places.

In the finals, one team starts on each side of the track and they race each other and the clock.  The winner is determined by either catching the other team or recording the fastest time.

In the event of a false start the team is permitted another start. Only two starts are allowed.

SCRATCH RACE (men 15km / women 10km / u19 men 10km / u19 women 7.5km)
Scratch racing was introduced to the World Championships and World Cups in 2002.  The Scratch Race is one of the most exciting events, it begins with a massed start of competitors who race the assigned distance with the placings determined during the final sprint, taking into account laps gained.

Tactics are important in this event with endurance riders keeping the pace fast and furious in an effort to eliminate the sprint specialists who in turn will try and shelter within the group to conserve their strength for the final laps.  The final 10 laps are where courage, skills, positioning and tenacity of the competitors comes to the fore as the fast sprinting field surges to the finish.
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The Dunc Gray Velodrome is located at Bass Hill approximately 5 kilometres north west of the Sydney suburb of Bankstown.

It was opened on 28 November 1999 and is named after Edgar "Dunc" Gray, the first Australian to win a cycling Gold Medal at the Olympic Games (Los Angeles 1932).

In 2000, the Velodrome hosted the track cycling competition for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and has hosted a number of UCI Track Cycling World Cup events, Australian Championships and Australian Youth Olympic Festival events.