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

track cycling Track cycling is a Cycle sport, 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 i ...

. 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 sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

, 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 for men 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 women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the rac ...

and 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 event for men from 1984 to 2008 and for women from 1996 to 2008. Since 2012, the points race has been one of the omniu ...

at the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

beginning in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. The change received some criticism from cyclist Rebecca 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; ) 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 licenses to riders and enforces di ...

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

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 women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the rac ...

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

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

#: 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 event for men from 1984 to 2008 and for women from 1996 to 2008. Since 2012, the points race has been one of the omniu ...

#: 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 added, and the event shortened to a single day. The points race as final race format remains with minor modifications. # Scratch race #: 10 km for elite men, 7.5 km for elite women and junior men, 5 km for junior women # Tempo race #: 10 km for elite men, 7.5 km for elite women and junior men, 5 km for junior women # Elimination race #: 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.

Para omnium

A para omnium in para-track cycling was introduced in 2020, featuring four events: # Flying 200m # Time trial – 1km or 500m # Individual pursuit # Scratch race Individual events except the flying 200m may be held as part of the stand-alone events, with only the omnium participants eligible for omnium points. Points are awarded in a similar manner to the first five events in the regular omnium.

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