November 14, 2007 — Rainbow jerseys were awarded at the UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships on November 9-11 in Winterthur, Switzerland. Here are some intriguing photos of this little-known branch of cycling. Indoor Cycling is most popular in Germany, where there are around 10,000 licence holders. Under its umbrella are artistic cycling and the game of Cycle-Ball.

As a sport, artistic cycling is a bit like figure skating or gymnastics. It is a discipline requiring skill, balance, concentration and courage in the individual, pairs or fours events. Riders perform a six-minute program to music, which is evaluated by a panel of judges. It is truly the figure skating of cycling. The first official artistic cycling World Championships were held in 1956. Who knew?

Cycle-Ball is an exclusively male discipline, with two teams of two players acting both as goalkeepers and outfield players. The ball (approx. 18 cm in diameter), which can be struck with either the front or the rear wheel, is filled with horsehair and can reach speeds of 60 km/h. Inside the penalty area, the goalkeeper can use his hands to stop shots on the goal, which measures 2m by 2m. As in soccer, fouls are punished with free kicks and penalties. A match is made up of two seven-minute halves. The first World Cycle-Ball Championships were held in 1930.

Results (brief)

Artistic Cycling

Fours Final
1. Dieterle/Gaisser/S. Rudolf/I. Rudofl (Ger) 368.30/356.23
2. Hagen/M. Melbinger/Schwar/S. Melbinger (Aut) 371.80/352.31
3. Bolliger/Keller/Roth/Paul (Sui) 365.00/345.87
4. Tobolikova/Oplocka/Matouskova/Pribylova (Cze) 366.80/331.37

Men Pairs Final
1. Felix & Jonas Niederberger (Ger) 328.40/320.33
2. Viktor Volk & Manuel Huber (Ger) 321.80/306.88
3. Beni Jost & Joel Schmid (Sui) 299.00/294.53
4. Sum Yee Yu & Tin Hin Lo (HKg) 298.20/290.30

Women Pairs Final
1. Katrin Schultheis & Sandra Sprinkmeier (Ger) 325.40/311.61
2. Jasmin Soika & Katharina Wurster (Ger) 315.60/302.37
3. Andrea Petrickova & Iva Valesova (Cze) 304.00/288.61
4. Barbara Morf & Nina Bommeli (Sui) 300.00/288.07

Men Individual Final
1. Robin Hartmann (Ger) 349.60/347.25
2. David Schnabel (Ger) 348.20/346.97
3. Michael Brugger (Ger) 346.20/342.81
4. Milan Krivanek (Cze) 332.60/325.27

Women Individual Final
1. Anja Scheu (Ger) 338.00/331.60
2. Sarah Kohl (Aut) 335.40/328.51
3. Sandra Beck (Ger) 336.80/326.35
4. Martina Trnkova (Cze) 336.60/322.27

Cycle-ball

Cycle-ball A
1. Thomas Abel & Christian Hess (Ger)
2. Matin Lingg & Markus Bröll (Aut)
3. Timo Reichen & Peter Jiricek (Sui)
4. Pavel Vitual & Robert Loskot (Cze)
5. Jasmin Fazlic & Mihael Posedi (Cro)
6. Rudy Covent & Peter Martens (Bel)

Cycle-ball B
1. Naoya Kinoshita & Ko Matsuda (Jpn)
2. Dorian Doroftei & Mircea Tric (Rom)
3. Florencio Monge & Daniel Cortés Balsalobre (Spa)
4. Dalibor Roznik & Robert Rizman (Svk)
5. Frédérique Marcoux & Michel Maillavin (Fra)

Cycle-ball C
1. Man Fai Lo & Wing Tai Ho (HKg)
2. Tamás Szitás & Vilmos Toma (Hun)
3. Abd Halim Samsinar & Dahlan Mohd Zikri (Mas)
4. U Hin Lai & Run Quin Lin (Mac)