(EDITORIAL) Welcome to the few days every four years when the wider sporting public is exposed to the thrills of keirin racing. Is DerbyWheel ready to exploit the opportunity?

Legendary gymnast Simone Biles said it perfectly, a few days ago.

‘You guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics,’ she tweeted.

But they won’t stop. Countless cyclists – those who won medals, and those who didn’t even get through qualification – will face the same question at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome in the coming days.

With the Olympics being the sole focus for most sprint cyclists, there are only two possible answers currently: to start on another four-year cycle, or to move on with your life.

Television viewers want to know what’s next too. The Olympics exposes us to sports we never knew we cared about. It often starts with curiosity – then after a few hours of casual viewing, we find ourselves offering opinions on strategy, selection and scoring. Suddenly we’re fans.

Keirin racing catches the attention easily. Why is there a motorbike on the track? – surely that guy is cheating. (Ho ho.) Then suddenly, the pacer exits and the race is on. Who will move first? Who’s boxed in? The charge for the line at 70kph or more, unthinkable for most bicycle owners… who won? who made the cut? and who’s up next?

But when the Olympic flame is extinguished on Sunday evening, track cycling goes dark for most of the world for another four years.

These are the rare few days when the world knows our sport exists. This is our opportunity to tell those interviewers: yes, there is something next. For me as an athlete. And for you as fans.

But DerbyWheel’s website has not added a new News item in almost four months. The CEO’s latest homepage video promised an update at the end of June, but nothing has been communicated (externally) yet. There is no date for a test event. Social accounts are literally silent.

The contrast with Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track athletics initiative is stark. Johnson has been interviewed about his plans on mainstream national media. Their X/Twitter and YouTube accounts are busily capitalising on the attention generated by the Olympics. They know this is their moment.

If DerbyWheel says nothing this week, the world will soon move on. It’s not a disaster. But it means they will have to work much harder to generate their own opportunity, to remind fans of that weird bike race with the motorbike, that you thought was cool a few months ago.