While long-distance road racing is defined by its biggest events such as the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, there's nowhere that indoor track cycling feels more at home than at the Olympics, and the men's and women's competitions are set to be bigger than ever before at the 2024 Paris Games.
There's a whopping 208 riders split across the 12 men's and women's teams at this year's Games, with six different disciplines of track cycling in which each set of teams can win medals. Those are the Sprint, Team Sprint, Keirin, Team Pursuit, Madison and Omnium, all of which will be played out over the course of the second week of the 2024 Olympics.
Taking place at the Velodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, north of Paris in the Ile-de-France region, the various men's and women's riders will all be hoping for success after the previous delayed Games in Tokyo were dominated by the Netherlands and Great Britain – who won 24 of the 66 overall medals on offer, including 11 combined golds.
Jennifer Valente was the United States' only medal winner in any track cycling event three years ago, claiming gold in the Women's Omnium race, and having entered teams in the Men's Omnium and Women's Team Pursuit, Madison and Omnium this time around, may have better hopes of success this time around.
We're all set to watch the world's best indoor cyclists face off across seven fast-paced and action-packed days at the Velodrome National, and, The Sporting News has all the scheduling, TV and live streaming details you'll need to follow every race from the USA.
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Track cycling at the 2024 Olympic Games: Full schedule
There's 12 overall events to be held in the track cycling competition at Paris 2024, with six different disciplines of cycling for both the men's and women's teams at this year's Games. An action-packed seven-day schedule has a total of 36 medals up for grabs, and begins with the Women's Team Sprint Qualifiers on Monday, August 5.
The Women's Team Sprint, which starts at 5:00 p.m. local time (CEST), will be the first medals on the line, with the finals taking place that very evening to close out the opening day of cycling.
The Team Pursuit, Men's Team Sprint, Keirin, Omnium, Madison and Individual Sprint competitions will all follow, and the track cycling events finish with the fourth Women's Omnium Points Race at 1:56 p.m. local time (CEST) on Sunday, August 11.
| Date | Event(s) | Time (ET) | TV Channel | Live Stream |
| Monday, Aug 5 | Women's Team Sprint, Men's Team Pursuit, Men's Team Sprint, Women's Team Sprint Finals | 11:00 a.m. – 1:46 p.m. | USA Network (Women's Team Sprint only) | Fubo, Peacock |
| Tuesday, Aug 6 | Women's Team Pursuit, Men's Team Sprint, Men's Team Pursuit, Men's Team Sprint Finals | 11:30 a.m. – 1:55 p.m. | E! (Men's Team Sprint only) | Fubo, Peacock |
| Wednesday, Aug 7 | Men's Sprint, Women's Keirin, Women's Team Pursuit, Men's Team Pursuit Finals, Women's Team Pursuit Finals, Men's Sprint Finals | 6:45 a.m. – 2:14 p.m. | E! (Team Pursuit Finals only) | Fubo, Peacock |
| Thursday, Aug 8 | Men's Omnium, Women's Keirin, Men's Sprint, Women's Keirin Finals | 11:00 a.m. – 2:04 p.m. | – | Fubo, Peacock |
| Friday, Aug 9 | Women's Sprint, Men's Sprint, Men's Sprint Finals, Women's Madison Final | 8:00 a.m. – 1:58 p.m. |
USA Network (Women's Keirin, Men's Omnium) E! (Men's Sprint, Women's Madison) |
Fubo, Peacock |
| Saturday, Aug 10 | Women's Sprint, Men's Keirin, Men's Madison Final | 11:00 a.m. – 1:21 p.m. | CNBC | Fubo, Peacock |
| Sunday, Aug 11 | Women's Omnium, Women's Sprint, Men's Keirin, Women's Sprint Finals, Men's Keirin Finals, Women's Omnium Points Race 4/4 | 5:00 a.m. – 7:56 a.m. | CNBC | Fubo, Peacock |
How to watch Track Cycling at the 2024 Olympic Games: TV channel, Live stream
- TV Channel: USA Network, E!, CNBC
- Live Stream: Fubo, Peacock
Various US-based channels and networks are showing the various track cycling events at the 2024 Olympic Games, and while some of the races are only able to watch via digital devices, you can still catch most of the action across the USA Network, E! and CNBC Networks.
To catch every single race on one place though, your best best for live streaming the entire track cycling competition is with Fubo. They've got access to the live broadcasts of all the above networks and are also showing every race on catch-up too – and they're offering a FREE trial to new subscribers for the 2024 Games.
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2024 Olympic Games Track Cycling: What is Keirin Racing?
Keirin racing is one of the most exciting events on the track program, taking place over eight laps of the track, with a maximum of seven riders in each race. The first five-and-a-half laps are ridden behind a pacer on a motorbike.
The pacer increases speed with each lap until it reaches 50km/h and pulls off the track with two-and-a-half laps to ride.
The final two-and-a-half laps are an all-out sprint for the finish line, with speeds regularly reaching more than 70km/h.
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2024 Olympic Games Track Cycling: What is the Omnium?
The omnium is a four-race event contested over one day, with riders awarded points for each event based on their finishing position — not dissimilar to the decathlon.
The four events in the omnium are:
Scratch race: This is a straight-forward race, with all riders starting together, and the winner being the first to cross the finish line. Under UCI regulations, men's scratch races are 15km, and women's are 10km. If a rider is lapped by the peloton, they are eliminated. If a rider or group of riders laps the peloton, they cannot be beaten by anyone in the peloton.
Tempo race: This is generally contested over 10km for men, or 7.5km for women, and sees a sprint at the end of every lap after four laps, with the first across the line awarded one point. If a rider laps the field, they're awarded 20 points. If a rider is lapped by the field, he or she is deducted 20 points. The winner of the tempo race receives 40 points, second place gets 39, third is awarded 38 points and so on.
Elimination race: Also known as 'devil take the hindmost,' the elimination race sees the last rider to cross the finish line at the end of every second lap eliminated from the race. The racing continues until the final two cyclists remaining sprint for the win.
Points race: This is a long distance track event, usually over 40km for men and 25km for women in UCI events, with sprint points awarded every 10 laps. Points are awarded on a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis for the first four riders across the finish line. If a rider laps the field, they're awarded 20 points. The winner is the rider with the most points at the end of the race.
2024 Olympic Games Track Cycling: What is the Madison?
The Madison is one of the most intense track events, with 16 teams of two riders racing over 200 laps.
Only one rider from each team is 'racing' at any given time, with points awarded for sprints every 10 laps, or by lapping the field.
Riders 'tag' in and out throughout the race, similar to a relay, but you'll most likely see them propelling each other forward in a slingshot motion.
The Madison is named after Madison Square Garden in New York, where it originated.