Para Cycling Track

Para cycling track is divided into three types of events: time trial, individual pursuit and tandem or team sprint. Track cycling made its Paralympic debut at the Games in Atlanta in 1996, 12 years after the introduction of road cycling at the Paralympics.

Two types of bikes can be used on track at the Paralympic Games: standard bicycles and tandems. There’s a bike for each type of disability, adapted to suit the athlete’s needs.

Athletes compete in time trials individually or in teams at a velodrome with a 250m track, in distances of 500m or 1km from a standing start. In the individual pursuit, athletes compete over distances of 3km or 4km.

Great Britain took home the most medals in the sport at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in 2021, followed by Australia and France.

Athletes use different bicycles according to their impairment classification. In solo events, riders use standard racing bicycles with minor modifications where needed for safety depending on their disability, with adjustments made to the location of the gears and chainset, for example. The sport is practised by athletes who have undergone amputations or have limited movement in their upper or lower limbs.

Tandems are used by athletes who are blind or visually impaired; visually impaired athletes compete with a sighted pilot.

Eligible impairments

Vision impairments, amputated upper or lower limbs and equivalent, physical disabilities limiting movement of the upper or lower limbs (such as cerebral palsy or hemiplegia).

Classification

• Letter: C (= Cycle) / VI (= Visually Impaired or Blind)
• Number: 1 to 5. Athletes with an amputated limb or impairment that affects motor function, 1 being the greatest impairment and 5 the mildest. Tandem is always associated with the letter VI or B for athletes with a vision impairment.