Cycling at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Cycling at the Paralympic Games
Paralympic Cycling
Venue	Rio Olympic Velodrome Copacabana Cluster
Dates	September 2016
Competitors	230

Cycling at the 2016 Summer Paralympics shall consist of 50 events in two main disciplines, track cycling and road cycling. The venues will be the Rio Olympic Velodrome for track cycling in the Barra Cluster, and the Flamengo Park for the road cycling disciplines in the Copacapana Cluster.^[1] Eighteen events will be contested on the track, and 32 on the road.^[2]

Classification

Cyclists are given a classification depending on the type and extent of their disability, known as a functional system and introduced in 2012. The classification system allows cyclists to compete against others with a similar level of function. The class number indicates the severity of impairment with "1" being most impaired.

Athletes are classified according to their functional ability across four broad categories (Blind or partially sighted tandem, handcycle, tricycle and standard bicycle).^[3]

Riders with recovering or deteriorating conditions such as MS are eligible but must have been reclassified within six months of a World Championships or Paralympic Games to ensure their classification is correct.

Specialised equipment including prostheses is only allowed where it has been specifically approved.

Cycling at the 2016 Summer Paralympics - Classification of events[3]
Classification	Bicycle used	Description
B	Tandem bicycle	Athletes who have visual impairments ride tandem bicycles with a guide. They may have any level of visual impairment between no light perception in either eye through to a visual acuity of 6/60 and/or a visual field of less than 20 degrees.[4]
H (1-5)	Handcycle	Handcycle events are for athletes who are amputees, have paraplegia or tetraplegia. They are classified as an H1, H2, H3 or H4, with H1 being the most severely impaired. H1, H2, H3 and H4 cyclists will all compete in a lying position, whereas H5 cyclists compete in a kneeling position.[3]
T (1-2)	Tricycle	Tricycle events are for those cyclists who have a neurological condition or an impairment which has a comparable effect on their cycling so that they are not able to compete on a standard bicycle for reasons of balance. There are two classifications of tricycle: T1 and T2. Of these, T1 is for the more severely impaired athletes.[3]
C (1-5)	Standard bicycle	for riders with moderate locomotion impairment who do not require a tricycle[3]

Factored events

Some Cycling events, 16 in total across track and road, are factored. This happens when cyclists from different classes compete against each other and means that the results take into account the severity of the impairments of each competitor. As a result, some riders within an event will have their times ‘factored’ while other riders will not, or will have their time factored in a different calculation. The gold medal goes to the athlete with the fastest time after all the required times have been factored. It is possible for an athlete to break a Games or world record in their event for their specific classification, but to come behind a differently classified athlete in that event after factoring. In such a case, the record is still treated as official within their classification for that event.

Factoring should not be confused with certain events where athletes with a greater impairment are entitled to compete in a race for athletes with a 'lesser' impairment, for example double amputees (such as Oscar Pistorius) in a single leg amputee athletics race alongside runners such as Jonnie Peacock or Richard Browne. In such races, no factoring is taken into account.

Events

Events in each classification, including factored events in joined classifications are set out below.

Classification → Event ↓	B	C					T		H
		C1	C2	C3	C4	C5	T1	T2	H1	H2	H3	H4
Road Cycling
Men's Road Race	●	●			●				●	●	●	●
Women's Road Race	●	●			●				●			●
Mixed Road Race							●
Men's Time Trial	●	●	●	●	●	●			●	●	●	●
Women's Time Trial	●	●			●	●			●		●	●
Mixed Time Trial							●
Mixed relay									●
Track Cycling
Men's 1000 m time trial	●	●			●
Men's ind. Pursuit	●	●	●	●	●	●
Men's ind. sprint	●
Women's 500m time trial		●			●
Women's 1000m time trial	●
Women's ind. Pursuit	●	●			●	●
Mixed team sprint		●

• B=Blind or Partially sighted, tandem bicycle
• H=Handcycle
• T=Tricycle
• C=Standard bicycle, with modifications

Qualification

For the Rio 2016 Games, the IPC has set the following quotas.

Athlete quota for Cycling at Rio 2016^[5]

Male	Female	Total
150	80	230*
*tandems counted as single athlete

A National Paralympic Committee (NPC) can enter a maximum of three eligible athletes per Individual medal event. For the Individual Road Race medal events with combined sport classes an NPC can enter a maximum of three eligible athletes per sport class and a maximum of five eligible athletes per Individual Road Race medal event.

Each athlete must enter a minimum of two medal events (Individual or Team). An NPC can enter a maximum of one team per Team medal event.

An NPC can be allocated no more than fourteen male and seven female athlete Individual qualification slots for a maximum quota allocation of twenty-one qualification slots per NPC, with Tandem being counted as one athlete. Exceptions may be granted through the Bipartite Commission Invitation Allocation method.

Qualification system for Cycling at Rio 2016^[5]

Method	Qualification			Qualified Male		Qualified Female
2014 UCI Nations Ranking Allocation	Highest ranked NPCs on the UCI Para-Cycling male and female Nations Ranking Lists closing 31 December 2014 (1 slot per NPC)			45		25
	Europe	Men:23	Women:14	Europe Italy Spain Czech Republic France Germany Russia Great Britain Netherlands Switzerland Belgium Austria Ireland	Poland Slovakia Ukraine Romania Portugal Finland Sweden Israel Norway Greece Hungary	Europe Germany Great Britain Netherlands Poland Spain Russia Italy Czech Republic Slovakia Ireland Switzerland France Greece Sweden
	Americas	Men:10	Women:4	Americas United States Canada Colombia Brazil Venezuela Argentina Peru Dominican Republic Mexico Costa Rica		Americas United States Canada Argentina Brazil
	Asia	Men:6	Women:3	Asia China Japan Malaysia South Korea Iran Philippines		Asia China Japan South Korea
	Oceania	Men:2	Women:2	Oceania Australia New Zealand		Oceania Australia New Zealand
	Africa	Men:4	Women:2	Africa[6] South Africa Algeria		Africa[6] South Africa
2016 UCI Combined Nations Allocation	Factored rankings system, with qualification to a maxiumum of 13 men and 6 women per NPC.[5]			100		50
Bipartite Commission Allocation	Invitations made by the Commission to five athletes of each gender.[5]			5		5

See also

• Cycling at the 2016 Summer Olympics

References

1. Rio2016 confirm Paralympic road race routes.
4. Paralympics GB - Classification of cycling events
5. , Official Rio 2016 Paralympic Qualification Guide
6. Since not enough African nations fulfilled the minimum criteria to gain a quota place, some African places went unfilled.

External links

• IPC
• UCI:Union Cycliste Internationale