'Never seen anything like that' - Sir Chris Hoy explains how bizarre track stands play vital role in cycling at Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games
Published 31/07/2026 at 21:41 GMT+1
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For anyone tuning in to watch the track cycling at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, they might be left scratching their heads at how some races, one-on-one sprints in particular, unfold inside the velodrome.
Hoy explains 'track stand' phenomenon in women's sprint semi-finals at Glasgow 2026
Video credit: TNT Sports
When sprint races begin, riders are typically extremely slow off their marks and they head to the steepest part of the bank inside the velodrome. They often come to a complete stand still.
There is method behind the madness, though. The practice has been coined a track stand and it occurs when the rider at the front wants to force their opponent into an overtake, leaving them the chance to sit in the slipstream before making the decisive move for victory.
There are things you can and cannot do when it comes to track stands, though, and there was an unusual incident in the women's sprint semi-finals at the Glasgow 2026 Games.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three contest, Malaysia’s Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri was adjudged to have broken the track-stand rules, meaning her opponent, England’s Sophie Capewell, was handed the second heat.
On hand to explain what happened at the velodrome bearing his name was legendary track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy.
"In the replay we can see Capewell pointing to the Malaysian rider and saying, ‘What is she doing?’" Hoy said.
"I don’t know if it’s because she rolled back. You’re not allowed to roll back at all technically, but certainly more than 20cm. That is classed as a foul if you like.
"And they’d already had a restart. So once you’ve done a restart, if you do that again it is a relegation.
"The rules change constantly with this. These are called track stands. The purpose is that you want to force your opponent to get to the front. The Malaysian rider won the first heat by riding from the back. That was her tactic.
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"She was not going to lead out the race, she was going to force Sophie. Sophie knew that, and she wasn’t going to give it up either and that’s what leads to these track stands."
In the end, Capewell won to book her spot in the final. However, she was beaten to gold by Team Wales' Emma Finucane.
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