Back to the Top News Newsfeed

Rio Olympics 2016: In U.S. pursuit of gold, team tries to build a better bike

You want to win gold, you gotta build a better bike.

That's the idea behind a simple but ground-breaking innovation that Team USA hopes will help it win its first Olympic gold medal in women's track cycling.

MORE: Images from Day 3 | TV schedule for Tuesday's Rio events

In an Olympic first, the U.S. women's pursuit team will race with a bicycle with the drivetrain mounted on the left side of the frame. The reason: U.S. coaches and engineers believe the bike will be more aerodynamic, and help the four-rider team shave seconds off its time in a discipline sometimes decided by the smallest fractions of seconds.