In track cycling, a scratch race is a race in which all riders start together and the objective is simply to be first over the finish line after a certain number of laps. There are no intermediate points or sprints.
UCI regulations specify that a scratch race should be held over 15 km for Elite Men and 10 km for Elite Women. Shorter distances of 10 km for men and 7.5 km for women may be used for qualifying rounds.
World championships
The scratch race has been a UCI World Championship event for men and women since 2002. Franco Marvulli of Switzerland and Lada Kozlíková of Czech Republic were the first UCI world champions. The 2012 men's and women's world champions are Ben Swift of the United Kingdom and Katarzyna Pawłowska of Poland.
References
Scratch race Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA