The Omnium is the latest occasion in monitor biking, having solely been launched forward of the 2012 Olympic Games for each women and men. Since then, the format has modified from six occasions to 4.
The Omnium happened after the International Olympic Committee required gender parity in occasions however didn’t enable for extra medals for biking. The omnium changed the person pursuit, factors race and kilometre time trial (500m time trial for ladies) and mixed all of them into one medal occasion, to an ideal outcry from the game.
The thought of an Omnium in monitor biking wasn’t new in 2012, nonetheless. Famed Six Day racer Patrick Sercu lobbied the UCI to have the self-discipline reintroduced to the World Championships schedule in 2007 after a 40-year absence.
The first Omniums consisted of a 200m flying Time Trial, Individual Pursuit, Points Race and Kilometre (or 500m) Time Trial, the self-discipline was supposed to check riders’ versatility.
By the time the Omnium made its first Olympic look in London, two extra mass-start occasions had been added: the Scratch Race and Elimination Race, making it biking’s equal of the pentathlon.
Laura Kenny (Great Britain) claimed the Omnium gold medals in London and Rio, whereas Lasse Norman Hansen (Denmark) and Elia Viviani (Italy) gained the lads’s occasions in 2012 and 2016, respectively. Great Britain’s Matt Walls took gold at Tokyo, 2020, whereas Jennifer Valente (USA) topped the ladies’s podium.
The timed occasions have been, to be trustworthy, not notably thrilling and the UCI spiced up the monitor menu after Rio, asserting the Omnium can be diminished to 4 occasions, all mass-start, to make room for the reintroduced Madison within the Olympic programme.
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The Omnium is now 4 races: the Scratch Race, Tempo Race, Elimination Race and Points Race. Riders accumulate factors by excessive finishes within the first three occasions – with 40 factors awarded to the winner, 38 for second, 36 for third, and so forth. The rider with essentially the most factors on the finish of 4 races wins.
Scratch Race
It looks as if a easy idea, and certainly the Omnium occasion begins off simple: within the Scratch Race, the primary rider throughout the road wins – there are not any further factors for lapping the sphere. The males races are 10 kilometres, the ladies 7.5km.
Tempo Race
From there, it will get much more sophisticated and extra strategic. In the Tempo Race, riders achieve factors in sprints and by lapping the sphere and the rider with essentially the most factors on the end wins.
The area will get 4 laps to settle in, then there’s a dash each lap the place the primary rider throughout the road will get one level, together with on the ultimate dash. But if a rider laps the sphere, they get 20 factors – so there’s a large incentive to interrupt away.
However, riders who’re dropped from the sphere and are lapped lose 20 factors, so it is a check of endurance in a race that by no means lulls and a check for the jury, who has to resolve what the ‘area’ is when riders are scattered everywhere in the monitor.
Elimination Race
The occasions all occur on the identical day of competitors (the lads on August 5, ladies on August 8) so riders should have the ability to get better from these quick, intense efforts. In the Elimination Race, there are sprints each different lap – however watch the again of the sphere! The final rider throughout the road is eradicated and should depart the monitor.
The riders’ bikes are fitted with a lightweight that sits on their stem and blinks to point they’re eradicated however there’s usually some confusion if riders do not get the message. The jury can relegate, warn or disqualify riders if they do not depart the monitor after being eradicated.
Gaining a lap does not rely, so that is the one race the place using tempo on the entrance generally is a profit, and sometimes the favourites will spend the race on or close to the entrance, using within the wind somewhat than saving vitality however risking elimination on the again.
Points Race
Riders carry all of their accrued factors into the ultimate occasion, the Points Race, a 25km race for males (100 laps), 20km for ladies (80), with sprints each 10 laps price 5, 3, 2 and 1 factors mid-race and 10, 6, 4, 2 on the end.
If a rider laps the sphere, they achieve 20 factors and if they’re dropped from the sphere and lapped, they lose 20 factors – all added or subtracted to every little thing they’ve earned all through the 4 races.
The rider with essentially the most factors on the end wins the Omnium, making the scoreboard the VIP of the monitor biking occasion.
History
After the UCI modified the format and added the four-race Omnium to the UCI Track World Championships programme, the Points Race has turn into the game-changer.
In 2017, Alberto Torres led the primary three races however France’s Benjamin Thomas gained 25 factors in sprints to say the rainbow jersey and New Zealand’s Aaron Gate lapped the sphere twice and gained 15 factors in sprints to maneuver forward of Torres into second.
Campbell Stewart (New Zealand) used an analogous technique to win the Omnium world title in 2019, whereas Thomas returned to the rainbow jersey due to lapping the sphere with the proper mixture in 2020.
Katie Archibald (Great Britain) used her dash prowess to carry off the cost from Kirsten Wild (Netherlands) that 12 months. Wild, an knowledgeable factors racer, gained the Omnium in 2018 and 2019, too.