An omnium (from Latin '' Omni'': of all, belonging to all) is a multiple race event 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 wa ...

. 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 feature the three primary road race events (

time trial 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 ...

, mass start and

criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time ...

History

The omnium was re-introduced into the World Championships as a five race track cycling format

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in 2007 and for women in 2009. The omnium was changed in 2010 by the UCI to include the elimination race and the distances of the events were lengthened to favour endurance cyclists. The omnium replaced the

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 ...

, the

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 ...

, and the

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also track-b ...

at the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

beginning in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. The change received some criticism from cyclist

Rebecca Romero Rebecca Jayne Romero, MBE (born 24 January 1980) is an English sportswoman, a former World Champion and Olympic Games silver medallist at rowing, and a former World champion and an Olympic champion track cyclist. Early life and education Romero ...

, who was left unable to defend her Olympic title.

Current omnium

From June 2014 until the end of 2016, the omnium as defined by the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

(UCI) consisted of the following six events held over 2 days: #

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 ...

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 ...

#: 4,000 metres for elite men, 3,000 metres for junior men and elite women, and 2,000 metres for junior women #

Elimination race Elimination races or "snap-dragon" races in bicycle racing are a form of race wherein during the course of the race, certain participants are eliminated through various criteria. The most common types of elimination races are the miss and out and ...

Time trial 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 ...

#: 1 km men, 500 metres women # Flying lap (against the clock) #

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 ...

#: 40 km for elite men, 25 km for elite women, 25 km for junior men, 20 km for junior women For the first five events, each winner was awarded 40 points, each second place 38 points, each third place 36, etc. Riders ranked 21st and below will each be awarded 1 point. In the Points Race, riders add to and lose points from their totals based on laps gained and lost, and points won in sprints. After the 2016 season, the three timed events – the sprint time trial, flying lap and individual pursuit were all removed from the event, a

tempo race A points race is a mass start track cycling event involving large numbers of riders simultaneously on track. It was an Olympic event for men between 1984–2008 and for women 1996–2008. Starting in 2012, the points race is one of the omnium eve ...

added, and the event shortened to a single day. The points race as final race format remains with minor modifications. #

#: 10 km for elite men, 7.5 km for elite women and junior men, 5 km for junior women #

Tempo race A points race is a mass start track cycling event involving large numbers of riders simultaneously on track. It was an Olympic event for men between 1984–2008 and for women 1996–2008. Starting in 2012, the points race is one of the omnium eve ...

#: 10 km for elite men, 7.5 km for elite women and junior men, 5 km for junior women #

#: 2 laps per sprint on 250 m tracks #

#: 25 km for elite men, 20 km for elite women and junior men, 15 km for junior women The winner of the Omnium is the rider who has obtained the highest total of points. In the event of a tie in the final ranking, the places in the final sprint of the last event, the Points Race breaks the tie. A rider must have completed every event in the omnium, otherwise they are ranked last.

Road racing omnium

A road race omnium consists of a

, a

, and a mass-start road race – typically held across a weekend or other 2-3 day period. Points are awarded to the top finishers at each event and totalled at the end of the event. The overall winner for the event is chosen based on the number of accumulated points. Often, organisers will stipulate that riders must complete each event in order to qualify for the overall prize.

References

External links

Omnium introduced by Cyclingnews.com

UCI wants Sixth Event in Olympic Omnium
{{Track cycling Events in track cycling Combination events