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Toronto 2015 preview: Track cycling
USA dominated in 2011 but who will take the titles at Toronto 2015’s spectacular new velodrome? 07 Aug 2015
The USA's Allison Jones competes in the women's individual C1-2-3 pursuit at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Competition dates: 10-11 August
Venue: Cisco Milton Pan Am / Parapan Am Velodrome
Athletes:
Medal events: 10
Tickets: Adults CAD 30-40 / U16 & 64+ CAD 17.50
Buy track cycling tickets at ticketmaster.
Introduction
In Guadalajara in 2011 the USA won three times as many medals as their rivals but cyclists from Canada, Colombia and Argentina will aim to break that dominance in Toronto.
Three athletes to look out for:
Rodrigo Lopez (ARG)
The 36-year-old world number five in the C1 class will be looking to defend his 1,000m time trial C1-5 title in Toronto. He won two bronze medals at March’s World Championships in the Netherlands.
Allison Jones (USA)
The world number two in the C2 class is a Paralympian in both cycling and alpine skiing who at London 2012 became only the second US woman to win gold medals at both summer and winter Paralympic Games. At March’s track World Championships she won one silver and two bronze medals.
Alvaro Galvis Becerra (COL)
The world number one in the men’s C2 class won the rainbow jersey in the C1-3 scratch race at March’s World Championships and took silver in the C2 3km pursuit. In 2011 he won a silver in the velodrome and a bronze on the road.
The sport
Track cycling events take place in a velodrome on a wooden oval track, and range in distance from 200m time trials to team pursuits of four kilometres. Athletes compete on bicycles or tandems.
In the time trial, athletes compete alone and from a standing start. The best time wins.
In individual pursuit, two opposing athletes start at opposite ends of the track. The fastest time over the set distance wins
The venue:
The Cisco Milton Pan Am / Parapan Am Velodrome has a 250m timber track, with two 42-degree banks, designed to meet the most stringent requirements set by the International Cycling Union (UCI).
The oval-shaped, three-storey, fully accessible velodrome is the sole facility of its kind in Canada and only the second that meets top international standards in the USA and Canada.
Designed to operate year-round, the facility will provide an important new Olympic- and Paralympic-calibre training facility for high-performance Canadian cyclists who, for the last two decades, have been forced to train outside the country for months at a time.
In addition, the Velodrome is built as a legacy community recreational centre.
For example: when cyclists are training on the track, the three multi-use courts located on the infield or bowl can be used for basketball and volleyball games, while joggers can use the walking track located on the spectator level — all at the same time.
It also houses offices for Cycling Canada and Cycling Ontario, a training lab, fitness centre, multi-purpose space, office space, café/lounge, community bicycle storage, and a retail bike and repair shop.
Gates open two hours before competition.
