28 cyclists from 18 countries were due to participate in the contest, but two riders did not start. After the qualifying heats, the fastest 24 riders were to advance to the 1/16 finals, therefore all riders who contested the qualification advanced to the next round.[1]
The first rider in each of the 12 heats advanced to the second round.[2] There was no repechage for this round.
The first rider from each of the six Second Round heats advanced to the Quarterfinals and the second placed riders from a repechage[3] to determine the other two riders that competed in the quarterfinals.[4]
The quarterfinals turned out to be quite eventful, as Simona Krupeckaitė was relegated in her first match sprint against Willy Kanis when she failed to hold her line in the last 200 metres but won the next two matches to go through to the semifinals. Guo Shuang was also relegated in her second match sprint against Clara Sanchez when she entered the sprinter's lane when the opponent was already there. Lisandra Guerra also received a warning for dangerous riding in the final bend. The first rider in each quarterfinal advanced to the semifinals and the 4 losing athletes faced a race for 5th-8th place.[5]
The qualifying, first round, second round, second round repechages and quarterfinals took place on 28 March. The Semifinals and Finals took place on 29 March.[6]
