Track cycling at the Paris Olympics: How does the keirin work? What is the derny electric bike used for? Who drives it? - Eurosport (2024)

Track cycling is one of the oldest Olympic disciplines and one of Team GB’s most successful events, holding the record for the biggest medal haul at 79 (including 33 golds).

Team GB has historically thrived in track cycling events, producing household names like Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton and Bradley Wiggins, and Paris could see more famous figures emerge from the track.

Emma Finucane, who is already emerging as Team GB's new track queen after leading her team to gold in the women's sprint, will form a trio with Sophie Capewell and Katy Marchant in the women's keirin on Wednesday.

The trio will throw themselves around the steep banks of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome, a 250m track near the Palace of Versailles which has previously hosted the World and European Championships.

Paris 2024 is the first Olympics since 2004 without either Sir Jason Kenny or Laura Kenny, the most successful male and female cyclists in history.

But Team GB is still fielding a strong squad, including individual sprint world champion Finucane and former Olympic and world team sprint silver medallist Jack Carlin.

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One of the stranger sights in track cycling is a queue of riders lining up at the start of a race behind an electric bike or motorbike.

The electric bike is called a derny, and is used in keirin races. Its purpose is to bring the riders up to speed – from 30km/h to 50km/h – before the official start of the race. The derny paces for three laps and tails off after 750m, at which point the real racing begins.

Riders draw lots to establish their starting positions behind the derny and must stay in that order until the derny peels off.

The keirin is a sprint discipline which both men and women contest, with the riders only racing for three laps once the derny leaves the race. Normally, that comes down to a final lap sprint, but riders sometimes launch a long way out and try to defend their lead against the more explosive sprinters.

Jason Kenny launched his sprint immediately after the derny dropped away at Tokyo 2020. He sailed clear of his rivals and held them off for all three laps to secure the gold medal and make history as the most successful British Olympian of all time.

Riders compete in heats with the best progressing to quarter-finals, semi-finals and then into the medal races. Riders who are eliminated in their heats can get a second chance in the repechages to progress to further rounds.

The women’s keirin at Paris 2024 starts on August 7 with the medal race on August 8, and the men’s keirin takes place from August 10-11.

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Emma Finucane, the youngest sprint world champion in nearly fifty years, is aiming to become the first female rider to win three Olympic gold medals in a single Games. She already has one gold after the team sprint event. The 21-year-old Carmarthen-born cyclist is already being heralded as the United Kingdom's new track queen.

Scottish cyclist Jack Carlin won silver and bronze in Tokyo and will be a formidable force on the track in the keirin in Paris.

Carlin will have to best Dutch superstar sprinter Harrie Lavreysen, who will be aiming to make it back-to-back golds in the event.

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