Para-cycling (or paracycling/para cycling) is the sport of

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

adapted for cyclists who have various

disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

. It is governed by the (UCI). The sport consists of seven different events which include

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

and track races. The world's elite para-cyclists compete at Track and Road Worlds Championships since 1994, the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

and the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

since 2010.

History

Para-cycling originated in the 1980s, starting with visually impaired riders who competed on a

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

with a sighted partner. In New York 1984 it entered the Summer Paralympic Games, where it consisted of only road races for riders with cerebral palsy. Over the next four Paralympic Games further events were added. In Atlanta 1996 track cycling was included as well as a variety of disabilities in various functional categories.

Handcycling A handcycle is a type of human-powered land vehicle powered by the arms rather than the legs, as on a bicycle. Most handcycles are tricycle in form, with two coasting rear wheels and one steerable powered front wheel. Despite usually having t ...

was included in the 2000 Sydney Paralympics as an exhibition event.

Events

Para-cycling events consist of the following three road races and five track events:

Road

* Road race (men and women) * Individual time trial (men and women) * Handcycling team relay (men and women, mix)

Track

* Tandem sprint (men and women) * Team sprint (men and women, mixed event) * 500 m time trial (men and women) or kilometre time trial (men and women) * Individual pursuit (men and women) * Scratch race (men and women)

Classification

Classification of riders consists of three broad groups; visual impairment, cerebral palsy and physical impairment. These are subdivided into 14 functional categories for men and women. Riders are placed in the appropriate category according to their functional ability. B: blind (tandem) B1-2 C: cycle C1-5 H: handbike H1-5 T: tricycle T1-2

References

External links

* * Cycle sport Paralympic sports {{cycling-stub