A Breakdown of Cycling from the 2021 Olympic Games

Though they were held in 2021 due to delays from the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Olympics provided the same level of competition and drama expected from the global competition. The 2021 Olympic cycling events had something that every kind of cycling enthusiast could enjoy. There were five different types of cycling events, including BMX freestyle, BMX racing, road cycling, track cycling and mountain biking.

Here’s more information about the Tokyo 2021 Olympic cycling races, as well as the non-race BMX freestyle event. If you missed out this year, you might want to catch these events next time!

BMX freestyle

BMX freestyle is a different type of cycling than the traditional race setup. Scoring in BMX freestyle is similar to a snowboarding or skateboarding system. In this event, competitors get 60 seconds to perform tricks on a special course. The obstacles at their disposal include box jumps, walls and rails, and tricks are mostly done in the air. They are judged on creativity, degree of difficulty, originality and quality of execution.

The bikes used here are specialized bikes designed to perform these special types of tricks. They are not made for racing—they would look quite out of place in the pack at the Tour de France! This was the first year the BMX freestyle event was included in the Olympics. The favorite, Logan Martin (Australia), took the gold medal, while Daniel Dhers (Venezuela) took silver, and Declan Brooks (Great Britain) took bronze.

Racing events

The 2021 Olympic cycling racing events can be divided into two categories: track cycling and everything else. The “everything else” category includes the aforementioned BMX racing, cross country mountain biking, road racing and road time trial, each with a men’s and women’s category. The track cycling events include Keirin, Madison, Omnium, team pursuit, sprint and team sprint, also each with men’s and women’s categories.

A few of the track Olympic events may be unfamiliar to some cycling enthusiasts. The Keirin, for example, is an event in which riders follow a motorized pace vehicle for much of the race and end with a sprint. The Omnium is a multiple-race event that includes four different types of races. And the Madison is a tag team race of 50 km where teams earn points by lapping the field and winning sprints.

Medalists

Great Britain led the pack in the 2020 Olympics with six gold medals, four silver and two bronze for a total of 12; the Netherlands also earned 12 medals total with five gold, three silver and four bronze. Switzerland earned six medals (one gold, three silver, two bronze), and Denmark and the United States rounded out the top five with three medals each—one gold and two silver going to Denmark, and one gold, one silver, one bronze to the U.S. The United States took medals in the women’s Omnium (Jennifer Valente, gold), women’s team pursuit (bronze) and women’s BMX freestyle (Hannah Roberts, silver).

Whether you’re an Olympic-level cyclist or, like most of us, not quite at that level, contact Big Momma’s Bicycles today for all your cycling needs.

Categorised in: Cycling