Track cycling news, previews, results and technical analysis
Secret Track Cyclist is an anonymous diary inspired by real-life experiences in elite track cycling. Each entry is written from the perspective of a different figure within the sport. Names, identities, and events are intentionally obscured to protect this week's author.
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Every now and then, elite track cycling collides with the real world. This usually happens in a GP surgery. The appointment is routine. A general health check. Nothing dramatic. You feel fine. You train full-time. You know exactly what your body can do. The first thing they do is weigh you.
At some point in every elite track cyclist’s career, logistics fail. The team gym is unavailable. The hotel gym is “under renovation”. Someone books the wrong venue. And suddenly, a professional woman sprinter finds herself training in a public gym on a Tuesday afternoon. This is not ideal. Public gyms have rules. Not written ones. Cultural ones. The first rule is that nobody believes you are strong.
There should be a rule in elite track cycling that nobody ever rooms with a sprinter. Not because they are difficult. Not because they are loud. Not even because they insist on turning the air conditioning down to arctic settings. It is the protein. Sprinters consume protein with a level of commitment usually reserved for religious practice. Shakes, bars, powders, liquids of uncertain origin. Everything comes in tubs the size of small buckets and smells faintly of vanilla, regret, and poor decision-making.
Communal hotel meals during track events are presented as a chance to recover together. This is optimistic. In reality, they are a live demonstration of geopolitics, logistics, and moral flexibility, played out over scrambled eggs. Everyone arrives at roughly the same time. This is not coincidence. It is strategy. You learn quickly that arriving five minutes late means eating whatever remains after the strongest personalities have finished negotiating with the buffet.
The technicalities of Track Cycling can be daunting for any Track Cyclist, whatever the level, as a consequence we have complied a list of frequently asked questions on Track Cycling. Our extensive Track Cycling Knowledge Base is regulary updated to provide you with a comprehensive guide to Track Cycling
Harrie Lavreysen is the most successful sprinter of our era, he is rarely beaten in the Sprint and Keirin.
As part of an academic coaching exercise, we have created a coaching guide to Harrie Lavreysen, with in-depth analysis of his riding style, tactics used, strengths and weaknesses and then formulating a training plan, tactical plan and psychological approach to beating a champion
Since the London 2012 era of Anna Meares and Victoria Pendleton, women’s sprinting has undergone a fundamental transformation.
While cadence remains central to sprinting, today’s performance balance also depends on torque generation, aerodynamic efficiency, and precise positional control.
Modern sprinters are no longer winning by out-spinning their rivals, but by extracting every watt from a drivetrain that’s been optimised in every measurable way.
The Hour Record is far more than a test of raw power. It is a physiological, psychological, and technical challenge that exposes every weakness in a rider’s preparation.
Success requires months of structured training, punctuated by precise track work, altitude planning, mental conditioning, aerodynamic optimisation, and nutritional discipline.
This section examines how riders prepare for the Hour Record across five key domains: training structure, psychology, altitude adaptation, rider position, and nutrition.
Most riders know that a well-prepared drivetrain is essential for fast, efficient riding. Chains, chainrings, sprockets, and lubrication all matter, but one area consistently overlooked is chainline alignment.
On a track bike, where the drivetrain operates under extremely high load and has no shifting requirements, perfect chainline is one of the most significant marginal gains any rider can make. It delivers more free speed than many premium upgrades that cost far more money.
Industry standard chainline for track cycling is 42 mm. Achieving this measurement, and matching the chainring and sprocket to within 1.0 mm of one another, should be considered essential practice for any rider who wants to maximise performance.
When Great Britain won gold in the men’s Team Sprint at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a 43.1 s ride, Jamie Staff’s 17.1-second opening lap set a benchmark that remains astonishing today.
Seventeen years on, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Netherlands smashed the overall world record with 40.949s — yet Roy van den Berg’s opening 17.2 s was slower than Staff’s split.
In an era defined by marginal gains, wind-tunnel optimisation, and revolutionary equipment, Lap 1 remains track cycling’s unsolved riddle.
In track cycling, where races are often decided by fractions of a second, aerodynamic efficiency is as important as raw power.
Central to this is Coefficient of Drag Area (CdA)—a measure of how much resistance a rider and their equipment create against the air. A lower CdA means higher speed for the same power, making it a critical focus for riders across all disciplines, from sprint to bunch racing.
This guide explores the key factors that influence CdA in track cycling, including handlebar design, stem selection, wheel choice, and rider position, with reference to professional practice and UCI regulations.
In cycling, the coefficient of rolling resistance (Crr) describes the energy lost as a tyre rolls across the track surface.
Unlike aerodynamic drag (CdA), which increases rapidly with speed, Crr remains relatively constant across a wide range of velocities.
It arises from small but important sources: tyre deformation under load, friction between the tyre and surface, and energy dissipated through the casing and inner tube.
We have created a coaching guide for the Masters Track Cyclists, which aims to help you train for the event and achieve your at events such as the UCI World Masters Track Cycling Championships.
A number of FREE PDF downloads on the subjects highlighted are available at the bottom of the page
For Masters track cyclists success hinges not just on physical preparation, but also on mental discipline, smart lifestyle management, and sustainable training. Competing as a high-performing athlete while balancing work, family, and the realities of an aging body requires a refined, strategic mindset. Here’s how to build one.
We have created a coaching guide to assist you in maintaining Elite Performance during your Menstruation Cycle for an Olympic-level track cyclist, integrating physiology, nutrition, supplementation, training adjustments, and mindset strategies.
No athlete is a robot, and even with excellent tracking tools, managing variable, irregular, or overlaping menstrual cycle phases is one of the most complex and personal aspects of performance coaching for female athletes.
The key is to shift from rigid calendar-based models to a flexible, sympton-informed strategy that accounts for bio-individuality
While aerodynamics and rolling resistance dominate performance conversations in track cycling, the crankset remains one of the most critical – yet often underestimated – components in the power delivery chain.
From sprint torque transfer to pursuit pacing precision, crankset design directly impacts drivetrain stiffness, efficiency, rider fit, and ultimately, lap speed.
This section explores the science behind crank arm selection, materials, Q-factor, crank length, and power meter integration – revealing how this “invisible engine room” can unlock measurable performance gains on the boards.
In the relentless pursuit of marginal gains on the velodrome, chainrings and sprockets are often overshadowed by more glamorous components. Yet these humble drivetrain elements play a decisive role in translating raw power into speed with maximum efficiency.
From gear selection and stiffness to interface precision and aero shaping, your choice of chainring and sprocket can significantly influence both performance and reliability — lap after lap.
This section explores the critical engineering behind these components, revealing why the world’s fastest riders treat them as non-negotiable performance tools, not just drivetrain hardware.
We have created an app that allows you to search all of the indoor velodromes currently operational and discover the Altitude and average values for Temperature, Humdity and Air Density inside the facility.
Changing your Chainring and/or Sprocket size in Track Cycling is a common occurance and this can require you to also change the length of your chain to accomodate the new gearing.
We have created a simple app that allows you to calculate the length of chain required for each Chainring and Sprocket combination
We have created an app for calculating your Track Cycling Gear Size, simply enter your Chainring and Sprocket Size and the app tells you what gear size this will achieve
