Cycling
Road bicycle racing is a bicycle racing sport held on roads, using racing bicycles. The term "road racing" is usually applied to events where competing riders start simultaneously (unless riding a handicap event) with the winner being the first to the line at the end of the course (individual and team time trials are another form of cycle racing on roads). Road racing is popular all over the world, but especially in Europe. The most competitive and devoted countries are Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland, although the sport is also popular in Australia, Denmark, Russia, South Africa the United Kingdom, and the United States. Road bicycle racing began as an organized sport in 1868.[1] The first world championship was in 1893 and cycling has been part of the Olympic Games since the modern sequence started in Athens in 1896. Road racing in its modern form originated in the late 19th century. The sport was popular in the western European countries of France, Spain, Belgium, and Italy. Some of Europe's earliest road bicycle races remain among the sport's biggest events. These early races include Liège-Bastogne-Liège (established 1892), Paris-Roubaix (1896), the Tour de France (1903), the Milan-Sanremo and Giro di Lombardia (1905), the Giro d'Italia (1909) and the Ronde van Vlaanderen (1913). They provided a template for other races around the world. While the sport has spread throughout the world, these historic races remain the most prestigious for a cyclist to win.
Road race types
Single-day races
* Criterium – short course (usually under 5 km/3.11 mi); mass start
* Circuit race – medium course (5–10 km/3.11-6.21 mi); mass start
* Road race – long course (usually over 60 km/37.28 mi) can be several laps or a single lap; mass start
* Time trial – medium course (usually 20–50 km/12.43-31.07 mi); solo start. Also known as the "Race of truth."
The first competitor to cross the finish line after completing the prescribed course is usually declared the winner. However, in some one-day races competitors are individually timed, and the winner is the person who completes the race in the shortest time. The biggest such road race is the Cape Argus Cycle Race in South Africa, with as many as 40 000 competitors, each of whom is individually timed, using electronic transponders. Race distances vary from a few kilometres to more than 200 km. Courses may run from place to place or comprise one or more laps of a circuit; some courses combine both, i.e., taking the riders from a starting place and then finishing with several laps of a circuit (usually to ensure a good spectacle for spectators at the finish). Races over short circuits, often in town or city centres, are known as criteriums. Some races, known as handicaps, are designed to match riders of different abilities and/or ages; groups of slower riders start first, with the fastest riders starting last and so having to race harder and faster to catch other competitors.
Types of riders
Within the discipline of road racing, different cyclists have different (relative) strengths and weaknesses. Depending on these, riders tend to prefer different events over particular courses, and perform different tactical roles within a team. The main specialities in road bicycle racing are:
* Climber
* Time trialist
*Sprinter
* Domestique
* All-rounder
International development
The growth of organised cycle racing led to the development of national administrative bodies, in Britain in 1878, France 1881, the Netherlands 1883, Germany 1884 and Sweden 1900. Sometimes, as in Britain, cycling was originally administered as part of athletics, since cyclists often used the tracks used by runners. This could, says historian James McGurn, lead to disputes within countries and internationally. The Bicycle Union [of Britain], having quarrelled with the Amateur Athletic Association over cycle race jurisdiction on AAA premises, took issue with the Union Vélocipèdique de France over the French body's willingness to allows its "amateurs" to compete for prizes of up to 2,000 francs, the equivalent of about sixteen months' pay for a French manual worker.[1] The first international body was the International Cycling Association (ICA), established by an English schoolteacher named Henry Sturmey (the founder of Sturmey-Archer). It opened in 1893 and held its first world championship in Chicago, USA, the same year. A new organisation, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), was set up on 15 April 1900 during the Olympic Games in Paris. Britain was not initially a member, but joined in 1903. The UCI, based in Switzerland, has run the sport ever since.