Road cycling: Difference between revisions

__NOTOC__

[[Image:Bicycle racing.jpg|thumb|300px|A criterium in [[Burlington, Vermont]], April 2004]]

'''Road cycling''' is a [[bicycle racing]] [[sport]], using [[racing bicycle]]s on asfalted or paved [[road]]s.

Road cycling races can be categorized by length and type:

== Length ==

* Single-day races: The competitor to cross the finish line first is declared the winner.

* Multi-stage races: Consists of several 'stages' ridden consecutively. <br>The competitor with the lowest cumulative time to complete all the stages is declared the overall, or General Classification (GC), winner. Most stage races also have other categories of winners such as the stage winner, the points winner, and the "king of the mountains" winner.

A stage race can also be a series of road races and time trials. The stage winner is the first person to cross the finish line that day or the time trial rider with the lowest time.

== Race/Stage Types ==

* Open road race: Generally going from point A to point B; can include multi-laps.

* [[Criterium]]: Generally a circuit race with multiple laps around a short, usually 4-cornered course; often includes primes (points or prizes for intermediate laps).

* [[Individual time trial]]: Every rider starts apart, and the rider with the fastest time wins.

* [[Team time trial]]: Riders start in groups or teams, usually of a fixed size. The time of the ''n''th rider of a team counts for the classification.

* ''Trials'' is a sport where riders navigate natural and man-made obstacles without putting down their foot, or "dabbing". Similar to ''[[motorcycle trials]]''.

==Famous bicycle races==

The most famous cycling race is the [[Tour de France]], a multi-stage tour over three weeks through [[France]], traditionally ending in [[Paris]]. Similar long multi-stage tours are held in [[Italy]] (the [[Giro d'Italia]]) and [[Spain]] (the [[Vuelta a España]]). These three races make up the "[[Grand Tour (cycling)|Grand Tours]]".

Professional racing is governed by the [[Union Cycliste Internationale]]. In [[2005]] a new series [[UCI ProTour]] was unveiled to replace the '''UCI World Cup''' series which contained only one-day races. In contrast, the new UCI ProTour includes stage races such as the grand tours ''Tour de France'', ''Giro d'Italia'' and ''Vuelta a España'', and smaller stage races such as [[Paris-Nice]] and the [[Dauphiné Liberé]].

The most important one-day races are part of this new ProTour: [[Milan-San Remo]] ([[Italy]]), [[Tour of Flanders]] ([[Belgium]]), [[Paris-Roubaix]] ([[France]]), [[Liège-Bastogne-Liège]] ([[Belgium]]) and [[Amstel Gold Race]] ([[Netherlands]]) in spring, [[Clasica San Sebastian]] ([[Spain]]), [[HEW-Cyclassics Cup]] ([[Germany]]), [[Championship of Z&uuml;rich]] ([[Switzerland]]), [[Paris-Tours]] ([[France]]) and [[Giro di Lombardia]] ([[Italy]]) in autumn.

The [[Race Across America]], or RAAM is an ultra [[marathon]] road race. It is a single stage race without designated rest periods about 3,000 miles or 4,830 kilometers long over 9 days with cyclists racing approximately 22 hours a day.

See [[List of important cycling events]] for a more extensive list

==Bicycle championships==

* [[Olympic Games]] and

* [[Commonwealth Games]]

* [[World Cycling Championship]]

==Calendar==

* [[Road Cycling season 2005]]

[[Category:Cycle racing]] [[Category:Endurance sports]]