Road bicycle racing is a popular bicycle racing sport held on roads (following the geography of the area), using racing bicycles. Bicycle racing encompasses many forms in which bicycles are used for competition. ... Road cycling is the most widespread and popular form of bicycle riding. ... An aluminum racing bicycle made by Raleigh and built using Shimano components. ...

It is popular all over the world, but especially in Europe. The most competitive and devoted countries are generally thought to be Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland, although Australia, Russia, and the United States also have high international standings, and many other countries in the world have accomplished professional cyclists.^{[citation needed]} This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... Police officer on a bicycle Cycling is a recreation, a sport and a means of transport across land. ...

Tactics

Though the objective of a race is quite simple (namely, to be the first rider to cross the line) a number of tactics can be employed to achieve this goal. Usually a rider or group of riders will try to break from the peloton (main body) by attacking and riding away to reduce the number of riders competing for the win. If the break doesn't succeed and the body of cyclists comes back together the winner will often be someone whose strength is explosively sprinting past the bunch to reach the line first. Teamwork between riders (both pre-arranged and ad-hoc) is important in many aspects: to prevent a break from getting away, helping riders in a break get clear of the bunch, and sometimes in delivering a sprinter to the front of the field. The peloton (from French, literally meaning ball and related to the English word platoon), bunch or pack is the large main group in a road bicycle race. ... Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi beating Óscar Freire at a stage of the 2005 Tirreno-Adriatico. ...

Races often feature difficult sections such as tough climbs, fast descents and sometimes technical surfaces (such as the cobbled pave used in the Paris-Roubaix race) to make the course more selective; stronger riders will be able to drop weaker riders during such sections to reduce the number of direct competitors able to take the win. Begun in 1896, Paris-Roubaix, third of the ten UCI World Cup races, has become the most famous single-day bicycle road race. ...

In more organized races there is a bus (the Broom Waggon) that follows the race, picking up stragglers. The Broom Waggon is the affectionate name for the vehicle that follows a Cycle Road Race picking up stragglers (or sweeping them up) who are unable to make it to the finish the race within the time permitted. ...

In all racing, drafting is a very important concept whereby one rider can save a lot of effort by closely following the rider in front in order to stay in his slipstream. Some reports say that it can be as much as 80% easier to ride on someones' wheel during flat portions. This has led teams to employ riders simply for the task of 'draging' the team captain to the finish line. This can be used as a strength or a weakness by competitors; riders can cooperate and draft each other to ride at high speed (a paceline), or one rider can sit on a competitors wheel, forcing him to do a greater share of the work to maintain the pace and potentially tiring earlier. This method may not be employed in a time trial race, unless it is a team time trial. This article is about the racing technique. ... dddeath ...

Road race categories

Road races can be categorized by length and type:

Race 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, each stage being a race within a race.
  The competitor with the lowest cumulative time to complete all the stages is declared the overall, or General Classification (GC), winner. Many stage races also have other classifications and awards, such as individual stage winners, the points classification winner, and the "King of the Mountains" (or Mountains classification) winner.

A stage race can also be a series of road races and individual time trials (possibly including team 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 on the course. The General Classification (or GC) in bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for bicycle riders in multi-stage bicycle races. ... The Points Classification is an award category in road bicycle racing that recognizes the most consistent finisher in a stage race. ... The King of the Mountains is the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race. ... An Individual Time Trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: contre la montre - literally against the watch). There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials (TTT). ... A Team Time Trial (TTT) is a road-based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). ...

Race Types

The main types of road races are:

• Open road race
• Criterium
• Individual Time Trial
• Team Time Trial
• Stage
• Omnium

The following terminology is used in the general sport of cycling, as well as the more specific road bicycle racing and mountain bicycle racing. ... A criterium, or crit, is a type of bike race held on a short course (usually less than 5 km), often run on closed-off city centre streets. ... The following terminology is used in the general sport of cycling, as well as the more specific road bicycle racing and mountain bicycle racing. ... The following terminology is used in the general sport of cycling, as well as the more specific road bicycle racing and mountain bicycle racing. ... The following terminology is used in the general sport of cycling, as well as the more specific road bicycle racing and mountain bicycle racing. ... The following terminology is used in the general sport of cycling, as well as the more specific road bicycle racing and mountain bicycle racing. ...

Types of riders

The main specialties in a road bicycle racing are:

• Climber
• Time Trialist
• Sprinter
• Domestique
• All-rounder

A climbing specialist is a road bicycle racer who can ride especially well on highly inclined roads, such as those found among hills or mountains. ... A time trialist is a road bicycle racer who can maintain high speeds for long periods of time, to maximize performance during individual or team time trials. ... Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi beating Óscar Freire at a stage of the 2005 Tirreno-Adriatico. ... A domestique is a road bicycle racer who works solely for the benefit of his or her team and leader. ... The following terminology is used in the general sport of cycling, as well as the more specific road bicycle racing and mountain bicycle racing. ...

Famous bicycle races

The Grand Tours

The most famous cycling race is the Tour de France, a multi-stage tour over three weeks nominally 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 Tours". The Tour de France is the worlds best known cycling race, a three week long road race that covers a circuit of most areas around France, and sometimes neighbouring countries. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Floating not submerging) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... The Giro dItalia, also simply known as the Giro, is a long distance road bicycle race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May or early June in and around Italy. ... The Vuelta a España bicycle race is one of the three Grand Tours of Europe and, after the Tour de France and the Giro dItalia, is the third most important road cycling stage race in the world. ... In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour refers to one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Tour de France - Tour of France Giro dItalia - Tour of Italy Vuelta a España - Tour of Spain Collectively they are termed the Grand Tours, and all three are similar...

UCI ProTour events

Professional racing is governed by the Union Cycliste Internationale. In 2005 it instituted the UCI ProTour to replace the UCI Road World Cup series. While the World Cup contained only one-day races, the ProTour includes the Grand Tours and smaller stage races such as Tour de Suisse, Paris-Nice and the Critérium de Dauphiné Libéré. Entrance of UCI headquarter at Aigle (Switzerland) Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is a professional cycling union that oversees cycling events in the international community. ... The UCI ProTour logo The UCI ProTour is a competition under the International Cycling Union (UCI). ... The UCI Road World Cup was a season-long road bicycle racing competition comprised to ten one-day events. ... The Tour of Switzerland (Tour de Suisse) is a ProTour bicycle race held annually in June. ... Paris-Nice, nicknamed the race to the sun, is an annual professional cycling stage race held annually each March. ... The Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré is an annual cycling road race, run over eight stages in the Dauphiné region in France during the first half of June. ...

The former UCI Road World Cup one-day races - which include all five Classic cycle races or 'Monuments' - are also part of the ProTour: Milan-Sanremo (Italy), Ronde van Vlaanderen (Belgium), Paris-Roubaix (France), Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Belgium) and Amstel Gold Race (Netherlands) in the spring, and Clásica de San Sebastián (Spain), HEW Cyclassics (Germany), Züri-Metzgete (Switzerland), Paris-Tours (France) and Giro di Lombardia (Italy) in the autumn season. UCI Also holds races in the United States, like the Nationals Race in 7 Springs, Pennsylvania. The UCI Road World Cup was a season-long road bicycle racing competition comprised to ten one-day events. ... The Classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. ... Milan - San Remo, nicknamed la primavera, is an annual cycling race between Milan and San Remo. ... The Tour of Flanders (Dutch: Ronde van Vlaanderen) is a road cycling race held in Flanders, Belgium. ... Begun in 1896, Paris-Roubaix, third of the ten UCI World Cup races, has become the most famous single-day bicycle road race. ... Liège-Bastogne-Liège, often called La Doyenne (the oldest woman), is one of the five Monuments of the European professional road cycling calendar, and the oldest. ... The Amstel Gold Race is a road bicycle racing race held (mostly) in the southern part of the province of Limburg, The Netherlands. ... The Clasica San Sebastian is a bicycle race held every summer since 1981 in the Basque region of Spain. ... Before the start of the 2004 HEW Cyclassics The HEW Cyclassics is an annual one-day pro and amateur cycling race in and around Hamburg. ... The Championship of Zürich is a classic cycling race, held in the month of October in Zürich. ... Paris-Tours is a French single day classic cycling race which takes place in October towards the end of the European season. ... The Tour of Lombardy (Italian: Giro di Lombardia) is an Italian cycling race. ...

Other notable races

Philadelphia International Championship, the highest ranked single-day race in all of North and South America. Philadelphia International Championship is the current name given to an annual bicycle race held in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

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. The Race Across America, or RAAM, is an ultra marathon bicycle race across the USA that started in 1982 as the Great American Bike Race. ... Modern day marathon runners The word marathon refers to a long-distance road running event of 42. ...

For a more extensive list see: List of important cycling events This is a list of important road bicycle racing events. ...

Bicycle championships

• Olympic Games and
• Commonwealth Games
• World Cycling Championship

The five Olympic rings were designed in 1913, adopted in 1914 and debuted at the Games at Antwerp, 1920. ... Current flag of the Commonwealth Games Federation Locations of the games, and participating countries The Commonwealth Games is a multinational, multi-sport event. ... The UCI Road World Championships, often referred to as the World Cycling Championships, is the annual world championship for bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). ...

Calendar

• Road Cycling season 2005

This is a list of all the road bicycle races of 2005. ...

See also

• Cycling
• Road cycling
• Bicycling terminology
• Cycling.tv