Category — Road

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