There’s a wide range of equipment which the riders use. Here a just a few notes on some of the key items which may answer some of the questions you may have.
Velodrome
For this purpose we’ll refer to 250m Olympic size tracks, but they come in other lengths to, both short and longer.
There are various lines and markings on the track. The lowest line round the track is the Black Line – it’s the shortest way round the track. Riders will normally try to stay as close to this as possible whilst sprinting.
The next line is the Red, Sprinters Line, there are special rules related to this when sprinting; once the sprint has started and the lead rider touches or crosses the line he must stay below the line and the other rider has to remain above it.
The blue line is called the Stayers line, it is user for the Madison event and doesn’t have a real specifics for Sprint races. The big blue band at the bottom is the Cote d’Azure, it is not part of the racing surface, if a rider goes in there and it if felt they have gained an advantage they could be relegated or disqualified.
The Red Lines that cross the track in the middle of the straights are called the Pursuit Lines. There are used for the Team Pursuit and to start the Team Sprint and Keirin events. The white line in the middle of the banking is the 200m line it show the start of the timing point for the Flying 200 .
Finally is the Finish Line, I’m sure you can guess what that is for…
Bikes
Track bikes are about as simple as they come. One gear, no brakes and very stiff.
Generally Sprint riders will ride a size bigger than normal to assist them with getting aero.
The team all ride Dolan DF4s
Wheels
When racing riders will normally use a disk wheel on the rear and, depending on the event, either a disk or 5 – Spoke on the front. These wheels are considerably more aerodynamic, and therefore faster than traditional spoked wheels – plus they look great.
The team use a mixture of Mavic and FFWD wheels
Skin Suits
Another key element in the search for speed, there a lot of research which goes into the design of the suits and the materials they are made from. The difference between a good suit and a great suit is around 0.2s on a Flying 200 effort; this could be the difference between 1st & 3rd place on qualifying.
The team use suits from LeCol which were developed in conjunction with McLaren.
Helmets
Aero Helmets not only provide protection in case of a crash; 80% of the air resistance on the bike is caused by the rider, The helmet help control the airflow and give a significant advantage from a traditional helmet. Whilst a longer helmet may provide a further advantage if you were fixed in a position such as when racing a pursuit effort; sprinters have to be observant and look round more whilst racing. A longer helmet would act as a wind brake and prove slower.
The when racing the team use a mixture of Lazer Victor and Kask Bambino helmets
Rollers
You will often see track sprinters warming up before a race using a set of rollers. This enables them to get their legs moving at get them ready to race, especially at races where there may be little track time available before the event. Typically they will Rev at up to 250 rpm to activate their muscles, this is especially useful in training to counteract the effect that weigh training has of slowing down muscle reaction.
Weights
Track Sprinters spend approx 50% of their training time in the gym, this would typically be about 3 sessions a week where the focus is normally increasing power by lifting heavy weights and converting this to speed by lifting heavy weights quickly. Following gym closures during the lockdown period riders all have weight setups at home.