Paris Olympics: Men's team pursuit preview

The men's team pursuit at the Olympic Games is one of the oldest cycling events, dating back to the 1908 London Games. Great Britain claimed the first gold medal and in the recent past, have been the dominant team.

The British team won gold in Beijing, London and Rio de Janeiro but since 2016 have had to rebuild after the retirement of Brad Wiggins and Ed Clancy.

Italy and Denmark have been the standard bearers in recent years but the British have been rapidly making a comeback to the top.

The competition begins on August 5 with a qualifying round. Only the top four teams can compete for the medals but which colour is determined in the first round. The top eight teams advance.

The top four qualifiers go head to head - second versus third and first versus fourth. The winners of each heat compete for the gold.

Even if they're losing, the teams have to fight for every millisecond because the next two fastest times of the other six teams will compete for the bronze medal.

Men's Team Pursuit competitors

• Australia: Oliver Bleddyn, Conor Leahy, Kelland O'Brien, Sam Welsford
• Belgium: Lindsay de Vylder, Tuur Dens, Robbe Ghys, Fabio van den Bossche
• Canada: Dylan Bibic, Michael Foley, Mathias Guillemette, Carson Mattern
• Denmark: Carl-Frederik Bevort, Niklas Larsen, Frederik Rodenberg Madsen, Michael Mørkøv, Rasmus Lund Pedersen 
• France: Thomas Boudat, Thomas Denis, Valentin Tabellion, Benjamin Thomas
• Germany: Tobias Buck-Gramcko, Roger Kluge, Theo Reinhardt, Tim Torn Teutenberg 
• Great Britain: Daniel Bigham, Ethan Hayter, Charlie Tanfield, Ethan Vernon, Oliver Wood 
• Italy: Simone Consonni, Filippo Ganna, Francesco Lamon, Jonathan Milan
• Japan: Eiya Hashimoto, Shunsuke Imamura, Kazushige Kuboki, Shinji Nakano
• New Zealand: Aaron Gate, Keegan Hornblow, Tom Sexton, Campbell Stewart 

Men's Team Pursuit contenders

Italy prevailed in the last Olympic Games men's team pursuit, powering home to a narrow victory over Denmark with Filippo Ganna, Simone Consonni, Jonathan Milan and Francesco Lamon setting a world record in the gold medal round.

Denmark's Carl-Frederik Bevort, Niklas Larsen, Frederik Rodenberg, Michael Mørkøv, and Rasmus Lund Pedersen got the better of the Italians at the World Championships in Glasgow, however. It's a battle of power and technology as teams try to become as aerodynamic as possible.

An expert in aerodynamics, Dan Bigham has been revolutionizing the British team pursuit squad and pushing the team - along with Ethan Hayter, Charlie Tanfield, Ethan Vernon, and Oliver Wood - back into the list of favourites for the medals.

Men's Team Pursuit schedule

• August 5: Men's Team Pursuit Qualifying - 11:27 CET
• August 6: Men's Team Pursuit First Round - 13:14 CET
• August 7: Men's Team Pursuit Final - 12:04 CET