Cycling is one of four sports to have been present in the modern Olympics since 1896. Great Britain has achieved the second highest tally of medals with 63 behind France with 86.

Track

The Great Britain Cycling Team track riders have topped the medal tables at the last two Olympic Games, winning seven Gold medals in both Beijing 2008 and in London 2012.

Sir Chris Hoy is Great Britain's most successful Olympian of all time and has six Gold medals and one Silver, whilst cycling greats such as Sir Bradley Wiggins, Victoria Pendleton, Jason Kenny and Laura Trott all have several Olympic Gold medals to their name.

Track cycling is split into two disciplines - sprint and endurance. Sprint cyclists, such as Jason Kenny and Jess Varnish, race over short distances and use strength, raw power and race tactics to win a race. Endurance cyclists, such as Laura Trott and Ed Clancy, race over much longer distances and rely on endurance ability to win a race, although the ability to sprint does help them in certain events.

At the Olympics, there are five track cycling events for both men and women. These are: sprint, team sprint, keirin, team pursuit and the omnium.

Did you know...?

Elinor Barker (Sainsbury's School Games Champion in 2010) is a two-time elite world champion in the team pursuit, whilst Danni Khan (Sainsbury's School Games Champion 2010) won two junior world champion titles in sprint events in 2013. Owain Doull (Sainsbury's School Games Champion in 2009) is the current European champion in the team pursuit. Great Britain Cycling Team members from other disciplines, such as road rider Lucy Garner and mountain biker Alice Barnes have also enjoyed success on the track at previous Sainsbury's School Games and the experience of riding the track has helped their development in their respective disciplines.

Sainsbury's 2015 School Games cycling mentors will be available to meet for advice and ask questions. The 2015 cycling mentor is Nick Craig.