July 3, 2008 – A record number of athletes will participate in the para-cycling disciplines at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, which take place from 6 to 17 September. Beijing will welcome 189 para-cyclists in the first Paralympics to be held since para-cycling was officially transferred from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to the International Cycling Union (UCI) in 2007. This compares with 145 athletes in Athens four years ago.

The 141 men and 48 women taking part in Beijing represent 40 countries from all five continents; Europe (25), America (7), Asia (4), Oceania (2) and Africa (2). The number of athletes per country varies between 1 and 18. With 18 athletes (13 men and five women) Germany is the only country to send the maximum number of athletes as a result of its place at the top of the world ranking at the end of the 2007 season.

Athletes, who will be grouped according to their handicap, will compete in 44 events — 23 on the road and 21 on the track. The number of cycling events is also an increase on the 31 events that were on the Olympic calendar in Athens four years ago. Depending on their handicap, the para-cyclists will take part in one or more of the following events on the road (road race, individual time trial) or on the track (kilometer time trial, 500m time trial, individual pursuit, sprint, team sprint).

The track events will take place September 7 — 10 on the same velodrome as for the Olympic Games. The road events will be held September 12 — 14 in the same area as the Olympic Games triathlon.

Several nations have already inspected the course for the road race, reporting that it is impressive and selective.