Category — Cycling Events

Cycling Events: Para-cycling

Intro:

In 2002, cycling for riders with a disability was fully integrated into the disciplines governed by the International Cycling Union. Cycling races for handicapped riders are now listed on its calendar, governed by its regulations and verified by its commissaires.

Two disciplines are open to this category of riders at present:

Track events:

- Tandem sprint race (men and women)

- Team sprint race (men) – 500 metre time trial (women)

- 1,000 metre time trial (men)

- Individual pursuit (men and women).

Road events:

- Individual time trials (men and women)

- In-line events (men and women)

The competitions comprise four groups of handicaps (blind and partially sighted riders, cerebral palsy sufferers, locomotor handicaps and hand cycle riders) and a total of 14 functional categories for men and women in all the age categories defined by the UCI. Riders are placed in the appropriate category in the light of their functional capacity which is assessed during a medical examination.

The main events are the World’s Championships (since 1994), the Paralympic Games, the Regional Championships, the Regional Cups and the National Championships.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling Events: Cycling for All

Intro:

UCI Golden Bike series: the ‘World Cup’ of Cycling for All

Numbering 8 at present, and perhaps growing in number in the future, the events that have gained the UCI Golden Bike label represent the world’s best-organised Cycling for All events. They meet strict criteria regarding the quality of organisation, specified in advance by the UCI, whose observance ensures that the participants benefit from a superior level of provisions. They must, however, be accessible to all types of cyclists.

Cycle-sport events: races to cater for every taste

Very varied in terms of the number of kilometres, the type of route or the level of difficulty, the cycle-sport races included on the international calendar of ‘Cycling for All’ – which can be accessed on the UCI Internet site – are all fully-fledged races, that is they are timed and made official by the publication of a final classification.

Bike rides : discovering new regions, on bicycle and in groups

There is no time-keeping at these events, and they are intended to appeal to a wider public without a competitive spirit. Their marked route provides an opportunity to discover the joys of exploration by bicycle, either alone or as a family, without too many constraints. It is seen less as tourism – the terms cycle-touring or cycle-tourism are disappearing – than as gatherings of those who love the bicycle.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling Events: World Championships

Event: 2009-2013 World Championships

Source: UCI.ch

Intro:

The enthusiasm for Road cycling competitions began at the end of the XIX century and has not stopped growing since. Some big races attract around tens of million spectators and are watched by TV viewers all over the world.

The first race officially recorded dates back to 31 May 1868 at the ‘Parc de Saint-Cloud’, in Paris, and was won by the British rider, James Moore.

The first city to city race took place on 7 November 1869: Paris-Rouen. James Moore, once again the winner, rode 123 kilometres in 10h. 25 min. The organisers’ intention was to promote cycling and to demonstrate that the bicycle enabled considerable distances to be covered.

Road cycling has been part of the Olympic Games programme since its first edition in 1896. Today, Track, Mountain Bike and from 2008, BMX are also Olympic disciplines.

The first UCI Road World Championships were organised in 1927. Nowadays, they are usually raced on a circuit of between 12 to 17 km, with a group start, over a total distance of approximately 260 km. The individual time-trial discipline was introduced on the World Championships programme in 1994. It is raced over a distance of 40 to 50 km for professionals. Riders start individually, at regular intervals (1 to 2 minutes). The competitor with the best time is declared the winner.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Intro:

Track racing dates back to the end of the nineteenth century. The first World Championships were held in 1895. Track cyclists are powerful athletes, generally with far more muscle bulk than “road racers”.

“Sprint” events

Keirin

The Keirin is based on the famous Keirin cycle racing which is one of the biggest betting sports in Japan. Contested over eight laps, the field of three to seven riders follows the Derny motor bike at an increasing pace until two and a half laps to go. The riders jostle for position behind the motorbike to gain the desired position, depending on where their biggest rivals are.

As the motor bike pulls off the track with two and a half laps to go, the battle begins to win the sprint. The stronger riders will launch their effort early whilst others will follow well into the last lap hoping that they are behind the right wheel allowing them to propel themselves to the line and victory at the last possible moment. The riders will be flat out at speeds around 70 km/h.

Kilometre & 500m time trials

These can be easily described as time trials for sprinters. Contested over a kilometre for men and 500 metres for women, the riders start from a special gate and take to the track one at a time to cover the distance as swiftly as possible.

After an all out effort to get the speed high and gain momentum, the skilful riders will measure their efforts so that they do not “die” in the last lap of the lung bursting effort.

Sprint

This classic track event involves a great deal of movement and tactics. The two or three riders in each race seek to out -manoeuvre their opponents over the three lap race. Watch the leader slow the race to walking pace on the first lap so that the riders behind him/her do not have an advantage. Sometimes the riders will stand still on the track as the leading rider tries to force his/her rival to take over the lead so he can gain a slipstream advantage when riders finally go flat out.

After the slow preliminaries the pace picks up, the rider following has the benefit off surprise if he/she can time his/her acceleration from 35 km/h to 70 km/h to gain a few lengths on the opponent. The times for the sprint are given over the last 200 metres which the best sprinters will cover in just over 10 seconds.

From the quarter final stage all matches are on a ‘best of three’ heats basis.

Team Sprint

This is the most hectic discipline where teams of three riders start on each side of the track. As each leading rider completes one lap of the track he drops out leaving the next rider to complete a further lap before the last riders takes over to complete the three lap race. The first round is staged on a time trial basis to find the fastest four teams to contest the final.

The women’s team sprint event is a recent addition to the Championships. The rules are the same as the men’s race except that teams of two riders complete two laps of the 250m track.

“Endurance” events

Individual Pursuit

The men’s event is held over four kilometres whilst the women compete over three kilometres. The first round will be held on a time trial basis with the best four riders progressing to the finals. In the final stages, two riders start on opposite sides of the track and ride against each other until one rider catches the other or the distance is completed. The finals feature a ride-off for the bronze medal / fourth place followed by the nail biting final race for the gold and silver medals.

Madison

This race is contested by teams of two riders showing bike handling skills at their best. One rider has to be in the race at all times. The other team member takes a short rest circling at the top of the track before he rejoins the race with his team mate throwing him into the action with a hand sling. As with the points race there are sprints, in this case every 20 laps and the teams will also be trying to gain a lap on their opponents in this high speed race. The final is over the distance of 50km.

The skills of the riders are vitally important as the bunch reach speeds well over 50 km/h with riders throwing their partners into the fray at key times of the race aiming to win the sprint points or gain a decisive lap on their competitors.

Points Race

The points race is contested over a distance of 25km for women and 40km for men superbly demonstrating the glittering spectacle and tactics of track racing.

With sprints every ten laps, the pace of the race varies as each sprint approaches. The complete points race rider must have the flexibility to adapt to the increases in speed and changes of tactic as the race develops. With 5, 3, 2 and 1 point/s awarded to the first four riders in each sprint, the last two laps before each sprint are highly animated as each rider tries to find the best position to make his effort.

Despite the points amassed in the sprints, a rider can win 20 points if he manages to lap the field. Riders will attack individually or in small groups to try to gain the decisive lap. Watch the main field battle to resist a small group gaining a lap. The final result will be decided by total points gained.

Scratch Race

This is the simplest race in the championships. It’s a bunched race event over a distance of 10km for women and 15km for men and the first across the finish line wins the gold medal. The action is non stop with riders trying to break away from the main field and their adversaries organising the chase behind. There’s no room for hesitation in this high speed cat and mouse race.

Team Pursuit

For men, this event is contested by teams of four riders each pursuing the other over 4000 metres. Watch the precision of the four riders as the rider in front leads for a half lap before winging up the banking to resume his contribution to the effort at the rear of the string whilst his colleagues maintain the high pace. The skilful teams will be following each other only millimetres apart to ensure they maximise the slipstream shelter for the riders following the leader before making their own effort.

The women’s event is for three riders over 3000 metres.

“Combined” events

Omnium

The men’s Omnium is the pentathlon of track cycling. Each competitor must ride in five events – 200m flying time trial; 7.5km scratch race; 3km individual pursuit; 15km points race and 1km time trial. In this competition, points are awarded in reverse order. The winning rider of each event gets one point and the rider with the lowest number of points overall is the winner. If there is a tie on points, the judges look back at the timed events to determine who wins. You’ve got to be good at sprinting, time-trialing and bunched racing in this tough race series.

The women’s Omnium is a new event to the World Championships using the same rules as the men’s Omnium with different distances except for the 200m flying time trial – a 5km scratch race; a 2km individual pursuit; a 10km points race and a 500m time trial.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling Events: Mountain bike

Intro:

The first mountain bike competitions were held in California (USA) in the early eighties. Since then the discipline has grown very fast, in all aspects. The first World Championships to be officially recognized by the UCI dates back to 1990. A World Cup was set up the following year.

Mountain bike events are split into four specialities :

Cross-country

Cross-country, generally over a closed circuit of 5 to 9 km : depending on the category, this race can last from 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes. There are narrow tracks, paths through forests, rocky paths and the riders even have to ford streams

Cross-country marathon is a long version of cross-country (from 60 to 120 km) raced in the mountains.

Downhill

Downhill, against the clock or in line. In its individual form, the downhill rider negotiates a succession of sections some of which are steep and require great technique.

4-Cross

4-Cross is the baby of the family, 4 riders compete over a fast downhill run including jumps and banked corners.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling Events: Cyclo-cross

Intro:

The first Cyclo-cross World Championships were held in 1950.

Cyclo-cross is a discipline run on 2.5 to 3.5 circuits, including clearings, roads, country lanes and paths through forests. The riders have to do several laps of the circuit over a period of no more than an hour. To make their way along steep paths, muddy tracks and artificial obstacles, sometimes the riders even have to carry their bikes.

This discipline, which is splendid in itself, is at the same time an unbeatable school of cycling, where you have to combine riding technique, courage and the peak of physical fitness. Technical back up is allowed, which is one of the main differences with mountain bike disciplines.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling Events: BMX

Intro:

Bicycle moto cross (BMX) started in the late 1960s in California, around the time that motocross became a popular sport in the USA. The motorized version of the sport was the inspiration for the human powered competition. Children and teenagers with the desire but not the means to participate in motocross sated their appetite by racing bicycles on self-built tracks. These young adventurers completed the imitation by dressing themselves up in motocross gear. The sport was given the name ‘bmx’ and the conception was complete. BMX races are held on circuits of around 350 metres, including jumps, banked corners and other obstacles. Eight riders compete in each heat (qualifying rounds, quarter finals, semi-finals, finals) with the top four qualifying for the next round.

BMX racing offered exciting action at a low cost, close to home. It is easy to see why the sport was an instant hit. In California the sport was more popular than anywhere else. During the early 1970s a sanctioning body for BMX was founded in the U.S.A. This is considered as the official start of BMX racing. As that decade progressed, the sport was introduced on other continents too, among them Europe in 1978.

In April 1981, the International BMX Federation was founded, and the first world championships were held in 1982. BMX rapidly developed as a unique sporting entity, and after several years clearly had more in common with cycling than motorcycling codes. Thus, since January 1993 BMX has been fully integrated into the Union Cycliste Internationale.

The main BMX areas in the world were and are the U.S.A., Europe and Australia, whilst South America has also been growing rapidly over the past years. BMX has been integrated with many national cycling federations. Currently, there are 75 national federations with official BMX activities recognized by the UCI. Over 1600 competitors from 32 countries participated in the 2003 UCI BMX World Championships that was held in Perth, Australia

On June 29th 2003, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to introduce BMX in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijng, China.

BMX within UCI :

• UCI has 75 affiliated national federations that have BMX racing on their program.

• UCI is the sole owner of the UCI BMX World Championships, which are held every year.

• UCI is the sole owner of the premiere BMX race series in the world – the UCI BMX Supercross.

• Over 70 international BMX events are present on the UCI International BMX Calendar, held on four continents.

• UCI is managing the UCI BMX Continental World Ranking, which contains of over 40 races counting for ranking points. Each year UCI is rewarding the top ranked BMX riders with 30.000 CHF.

• UCI is managing courses worldwide to educate officials, coaches and riders.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling Events: Trials

Intro:

The first UCI Trial World Championships were held in 1984.

Trial is one of the most exciting of all cycling disciplines. The cyclists have to get over obstacles grouped into “sections”, without ever setting foot on the ground (or they incur penalties). The most common obstacles are rocks and shrubs, but can be almost anything : huge cardboard boxes, cars, tables, etc. After negotiating a series of “sections”, the rider who has collected the fewest penalty points is declared the winner.

There are two categories of trial competition. The difference is in the wheel size : 20 or 26 inches.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch

Cycling Events: Indoor Cycling

Intro:

Artistic cycling

The first official artistic cycling World Championships were held in 1956. This sport is most popular in Germany, where there are no fewer than 10000 licence holders. As a sport, artistic cycling is a bit like ice-skating or gymnastics. It is a discipline requiring skill, balance, concentration and courage. The competitors (entering either as individuals or in pairs) offer a 6-minute programme with a musical accompaniment. A jury judges the quality of the figures.

Cycle-ball

The first World Cycle-Ball Championships were held in 1930. This is an exclusively masculine discipline, with two teams of two players (who act both as goalkeepers and outfield players). A match is made up of two 7 minutes halves. The ball (approx. 18 cm in diameter), which can be struck with either the front or the rear wheel, is filled with horsehair. It can reach a speed of 60 km/h. Inside the penalty area, the goalkeeper can use his hands to stop shots on goal. The goal itself measures 2 m by 2 m. As in football, fouls are punished with free kicks and penalties.

Event:

Source: UCI.ch