The 2014 UEC European Track Championships was the fifth edition of the elite UEC European Track Championships in

track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it ...

and took place at the Vélodrome Amédée Détraux in

Baie-Mahault Baie-Mahault is a commune in the overseas department and region of Guadeloupe, France. It is the second most populated commune of Guadeloupe, after Les Abymes. The extensive industrial zone of Jarry in Baie-Mahault is by far the most industria ...

, Guadeloupe, France, between 16 and 19 October. The Event was organised by the European Cycling Union. All European champions are awarded the

UEC European Champion jersey The UEC European Champion jersey is the distinctive, identifiable jersey that the winner of a bicycle race receives at European Cycling Championships organized by the European Cycling Union (UEC), such as the European Road Championships and the E ...

which may be worn by the champion throughout the year when competing in the same event at other competitions. The programme for the 2014 championships was considerably extended, and all

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

track events were held; ten Olympic events, ( sprint,

team sprint The team sprint (also sometimes known as the Olympic sprint) is a track cycling event. Despite its name, it is not a conventional cycling sprint event – it is a three-rider team time trial held over three laps of a velodrome. The current men's ...

keirin – literally "racing cycle" – is a form of motor-paced cycle racing in which track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan around 1948 for gambling ...

team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

and

omnium An omnium (from Latin '' Omni'': of all, belonging to all) is a multiple race event in track cycling. Historically the omnium has had a variety of formats. In recent years, road racing has also adopted the term to describe multi-day races that fe ...

, for both men and women), for which qualification points for the 2016 Summer Olympics were available for the first time, and nine non-Olympic events; the men's madison race and

points race A points race is a mass start track cycling event involving large numbers of riders simultaneously on track. It was an Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 18 ...

scratch race A scratch race is a track cycling race in which all riders start together and the objective is simply to be first over the finish line after a certain number of laps. UCI regulations specify that a scratch race should be held over 15 km for ...

s, sprint

time trials In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

(1000 metres for men, 500 metres for women) and

individual pursuit The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track. It is held at over for men and for women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the ...

s for both genders were held as part of the championships. The omnium was held in its new format for the first time, ending with the points race, rather than the sprint time trial. Unusually, the event was held on a fully outdoor concrete track with a 333-metre circumference, as opposed to the now standard 250 metre indoor wooden velodromes normally used in such events. As a result, several of the events (team sprints, omniums and points races) will be held over non-standard distances. In addition, the event took place outside continental Europe for the first time, being held in the French caribbean province department of Guadeloupe.

Summary

Great Britain topped the medal table with six golds, including a clean sweep of team and individual pursuit titles. Germany won the most medals, with thirteen including a fifth successive men's

title, while Russia were second on golds, with four, and medals with eleven. There was a first ever medal for Austria, gold in the men's madison. The most successful individual was Russia's Anastasiia Voinova with three gold medals. The redesigned omnium event, where all points won in the first five events go forward into the final points race, was held in its new format for the first time. Despite the change, Laura Trott of Great Britain defended her title in the women's edition to retain her claim as most successful cyclist in the history of the event with six golds. 2013 points race winner,

Elia Viviani Elia Viviani (born 7 February 1989) is an Italian professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . On 10 May 2015, Viviani won his first Grand Tour stage victory at the Giro d'Italia, winning stage 2 in a bunch sprint before Moreno ...

of Italy won the men's event, having entered the final points race already with a clear lead. Katie Archibald became the first winner of the women's individual pursuit at the championships. In doing so she ended British team-mate Joanna Rowsell's monopoly on all available major international team and individual pursuit titles. Ed Clancy's team pursuit gold made him the most successful male rider in the events history with five gold medals and one bronze medal in total. Grégory Baugé's sprint gold was his first, and was won on home soil, as Bauge was born in Guadeloupe. Events were delayed on a number of occasions by rain on the outdoor track, and times in the timed events were, as expected, significantly slower than usual.

Participating nations

218 cyclists (93 women, 125 men) from 23 nations participated at the championships. The number of cyclists per nation is shown in parentheses. * (2) * (4) * ''( details)'' (14) * (10) * (6) * (6) * (3) * (19) (host) * (17) * (5) * ''( details)'' (15) * (1) * (11) * (12) * (9) * ''( details)'' (11) * (14) * (22) * (1) * (7) * (15) * (1) * (13)

Events

§ = raced over non-standard distance (men=1000 metres, women=660 metres) * shaded events are non-Olympic * riders named in ''italics'' did not contest the corresponding finals

Medal table

References

External links

European Cycling Union
{{European championships in 2014

European Track Championships The European Track Cycling Championships are a set of elite level competition events held annually for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling, exclusively for European cyclists, and regulated by the European Cycling Union (UEC ...

UEC European Track Championships European Track Championships International cycle races hosted by France International sports competitions hosted by Guadeloupe UEC European Track Championships