What is the Omnium Cycling? Complete Overview!

The omnium is a multi-discipline track cycling event. It is the “all-around” competition on the velodrome. It was added to the World Championships and Olympics in the late 2000s. The UCI Track World Championships included men in 2007 and women in 2009. It became part of the Olympic program in London 2012. The omnium replaced some traditional timed events.

These include the individual pursuit, points race, and kilo/500m time trial. This change helps meet IOC gender-parity rules. Like a cycling decathlon or pentathlon, it tests a rider’s sprinting, endurance, and tactics in various race formats. In today’s competitions, omnium events happen on one day. They find a single winner and reward the most versatile track cyclists.

History and Evolution

The omnium idea started in mid-20th-century track racing. It only became an official championship event recently. After decades of absence, the omnium was reinstated at the Track World Championships (men in 2007, women in 2009). Early formats (2010–2016) lasted two days and included six races. These featured timed events like flying lap and pursuit, as well as mass-start events such as points, scratch, and elimination.

By the 2012 London Olympics, the omnium had six events: Scratch, Tempo, Elimination, Points, Individual Pursuit, and Time Trial. This made it “the equivalent of the pentathlon” in cycling. British rider Laura Kenny (née Trott) won gold in the women’s Olympics in 2012 and again in 2016. Lasse Norman Hansen (DEN) and Elia Viviani (ITA) took the men’s titles in 2012 and 2016, respectively.

After Rio 2016, the UCI overhauled the omnium to focus on mass-start races. From 2017 onwards the three timed events were dropped, a new Tempo race was added, and the competition was compressed into a single day. The modern omnium has four races: Scratch, Tempo, Elimination, and Points. All these races focus on endurance and are great for spectators.

Current Omnium Format

In today’s competitions like the World Championships and Olympics, the omnium includes four races. These races happen one after the other on the same day. Each race has distinct rules:

• Scratch Race: All riders start together and race a set distance (10 km for men, 7.5 km for women). The first rider across the finish line wins the race. There are no intermediate points or bonuses; it’s simply a straight race to the line.

• Tempo Race: Riders race a fixed distance (10 km men, 7.5 km women). After an initial settling laps, there is a sprint each lap. The first rider each lap earns 1 point, and riders who lap the main field gain 20 points. If a rider is dropped and then lapped by the field, they lose 20 points. The rider accumulating the most sprint points (and lap points) by the end wins this race.

• Elimination Race: Also called “the Devil,” this is run over several laps with intermittent sprints. Every two laps (roughly), the last rider across the line is eliminated from the race. This continues until only one rider remains. In this event, gaining a lap does not count – it’s purely a survival sprint. It demands tactical positioning to avoid being caught at the rear.

• Points Race: This is the final and decisive race (25 km men, 20 km women). Riders carry their accumulated points from the first three events into this race. During the Points Race, sprints occur every 10 laps: points of 5–3–2–1 are awarded to the top four in each sprint, and 10–6–4–2 points for the final sprint. In addition, riders earn +20 points each time they gain a lap on the field (or lose 20 if lapped). All points scored in the Points Race are added to the riders’ running totals from earlier events.

Riders must contest every race (those who miss an event are ranked last). The omnium is tough. It includes four fast races with short breaks. This demands speed, stamina, and smart energy use.

Scoring System

The omnium uses a points-based scoring system across the four events. The key rules are:

• Placement points (Scratch, Tempo, Elimination): After each of the first three races, riders earn points by finish order. The winner gets 40 points, 2nd place 38 points, 3rd 36 points, and so on descending by 2 points per place. (If more than 20 riders compete, anyone 21st or lower receives 1 point each.)

• Points Race scoring: In the final Points Race, riders score additional points that augment or subtract from their totals. Sprint points (5-3-2-1) and the 20-point lap bonuses/penalties are simply added to the running total. Thus a rider’s overall score = (sum of placement points from races 1–3) + (points gained/lost in Points Race).

• Overall ranking: After the Points Race, the rider with the highest total points wins the omnium. If there’s a tie on points, the final sprint of the Points Race decides the outcome. The rider who finishes better in that sprint ranks higher.

For example, a rider might have 110 points after three events. If she wins a few sprints and gains a lap in the Points Race, her total could surpass her rivals. The dynamic nature of the scoring (points can swing widely in the final race) keeps the outcome uncertain until the very end.

Notable Athletes and Records

The omnium has produced several notable specialists. In the men’s omnium, world champions include Benjamin Thomas from France and Ethan Hayter from Great Britain. Both have won the rainbow jersey twice. Fernando Gaviria (Colombia) is another two-time world winner.

Belgium’s Lindsay De Vylder had a standout performance, scoring 150 points. This win at the 2024 World Championship makes her the first Belgian omnium world champion. Italy’s Simone Consonni (silver in 2024) and Britain’s Matt Walls (gold at Tokyo 2020) are also prominent competitors.

In the women’s omnium, Great Britain’s Laura Kenny (née Trott) is legendary, having won Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016 and multiple world titles. British rider Katie Archibald has also claimed the world title three times (most recently in 2023). The USA’s Jennifer Valente defended her world title in 2023 and now holds three elite world championship titles; she was also the Olympic champion in Tokyo 2020.

Netherlands rider Kirsten Wild won back-to-back world titles in 2018 and 2019. New Zealander Ally Wollaston is the current dominant rider – she won both the individual elimination and the omnium at the 2024 Worlds, finishing with 131 points. Other multiple-time world champions include Canada’s Tara Whitten (omnium world champion in 2010 and 2011).

Notably, Olympic medallists in the omnium include Kenny, Valente, and Walls as mentioned. Laura Kenny remains the only double Olympic champion (2012 & 2016). In World Championship history, Thomas (FRA) holds the best record on the men’s side, with two golds and three silvers. All of these riders exemplify the versatility and consistency needed to master the omnium format.

Significance in International Competitions

The omnium is a marquee event at international track meets. It has been contested at every UCI Track Cycling World Championship since its introduction (men from 2007, women from 2009), with the winners earning the coveted rainbow jersey. At the Olympic Games, the omnium was added in 2012 and continues to feature (for both men and women) as a medal event. For example, at Tokyo 2020 the men’s omnium gold went to Matt Walls (GBR) and the women’s to Jennifer Valente (USA).

Winning the Olympic or world championship omnium is a major honor, as the event showcases the rider’s all-around strength. The omnium often decides national and Olympic team standings in endurance track programs. It is part of continental championships, like the European and Pan-American Championships.

It was also added to para-track championships in 2020. The omnium is now a top endurance event on the track. Riders train to be well-rounded track cyclists. They must sprint, endure, and outsmart their competitors in various races.