Watching the 2012 Olympic Games: Cycling
How it works
Cycling is divided into four sections: road, track, mountain biking and BMX. Track cycling has lost some events, including the points race and men’s madison, but the omnium will be a new race for both sexes
Who’s hot
Cycling is one of the events where Great Britain expects to bring in a big haul of medals. They dominated at the 2008 Olympics, winning 14 medals, including eight golds. France, the next strongest team, managed two gold medals. At last year’s track cycling world championships Australia put in a strong showing and took home six golds, twice as many as Britain. On the road, the likes of France, Spain, Russia and the USA always field strong teams while Switzerland will call on the quadruple men’s world time-trial champion and current Olympic title holder, Fabian Cancellara
Home hopes
On the track Great Britain remain the leading nation in the world. Among many medal hopefuls Victoria Pendleton, who won the women’s individual sprint in Beijing, and Sir Chris Hoy, who took gold in the men’s individual sprint and the keirin, will be confident of further success in front of their home crowd. Liam Phillips recently won the silver medal in the BMX world championships and will be coming to his peak during the London games
The road to London
- 23-27 March 2011 Track Worlds
- 31 August-4 September 2011 Mountain Bike Worlds
- 21-25 September 2011 Road Worlds
- 25-27 May 2012 BMX Worlds
The stage
The track cycling will take place in the 6,000-seater velodrome, with the BMX races on the specially constructed circuit next to it at the Olympic Park. The road cycling time trial starts and finishes at Hampton Court, with the climax of the road race taking place down the Mall. The mountain biking is set for Hadleigh Farm in Essex
What they say
“I don’t need any inspiration or motivation to train for an Olympic Games being held on my doorstep”
Liam Phillips, BMX
Did you know?
The velodrome was the first London 2012 Olympic venue to be completed
Competition dates
- 28 July-1 August Road
- 2-7 August Track
- 8-10 August BMX
- 11-12 August Mountain
Ticket prices
Track £20-£325
Road £60 at finish, otherwise free
BMX £20-£125
Mountain £20-45
Tempted to be there?
You can apply for tickets between 15 March and 26 April. Visit http://www.tickets.london2012.com/
The application process for tickets for the Paralympic Games will begin on 9 September 2011, and tickets for the London 2012 Festival (part of the Cultural Olympiad) in October 2011
