A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages are held as an individual time trial or a team time trial. Long races such as the Tour de France, Absa Cape Epic or the Giro d'Italia are known for their stages of one day each, whereas the boat sailing Velux 5 Oceans Race is broken down in usually four stages of several weeks duration each, where the competitors are racing continuously day and night. In bicycling and running events, a race with stages is known as a stage race.
The 1992 Tour de France was the 79th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 4 to 26 July. The total race distance was 21 stages and a prologue over 3,978 km (2,472 mi). In honor of the Maastricht Treaty, which created the European Union, the Tour visited a record seven countries: France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and Italy.
The 1971 Tour de France was the 58th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 3,608-kilometre (2,242 mi) race consisted of 22 stages, including three split stages, starting in Mulhouse on 26 June and finishing at the Vélodrome de Vincennes in Paris on 18 July. There were three time trial stages and two rest days. Eddy Merckx of the Molteni team won the overall general classification, defending his title to win his third Tour de France in a row. Joop Zoetemelk (Flandria–Mars) finished second, 9:51 minutes behind, and Lucien Van Impe was third (Sonolor–Lejeune), just over 11 minutes in arrears.
Fabian Cancellara, nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam Lidl–Trek. He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began road cycling after falling in love with an old bike at the age of thirteen. After that, he began to take the sport more seriously and won two consecutive World Junior Time Trial Championships in 1998 and 1999. At age nineteen he turned professional and signed with the Mapei–Quick-Step team, where he rode as a stagiaire. He is known for being a quality time trialist, a one-day classics specialist, and a workhorse for his teammates who have general classification aspirations.
The X²O Badkamers Trophy is a Belgian cyclo-cross racing series sponsored by X²O Badkamers which previously was known as the DVV Trophy (2017–2019), BPost Bank Trophy (2012–2016) and until 2011–2012 as the Gazet van Antwerpen Trofee. Many races are held in the province of Antwerp with others being held across Belgium. The first ever event was held on 1 November 1987 in Putte-Peulis. It is part of the grand slam of cyclo-cross.
The Cyclo-cross Essen, currently known as Robotland Cyclo-cross for sponsorship reasons and previously Grand Prix Rouwmoer, is a cyclo-cross race held in Essen, Belgium, which was until 2017 part of the BPost Bank Trophy.
Greg Van Avermaet is a retired Belgian professional cyclist. Considered one of the most versatile riders of modern cycling, Van Avermaet was a specialist of the classic cycle races, but has also won stages and the general classification in stage races, particularly when run on a hilly terrain, such as the 2016 Tirreno–Adriatico, and the 2018 Tour de Yorkshire. His strong sprint finish enabled him to win sprints of small lead groups, but he has also won races after solo breakaways.
Zdeněk Štybar is a Czech professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Team Jayco–AlUla. While best known as a cyclo-cross racer, in 2011 Štybar began his professional road career while continuing to race cyclo-cross.
The 2010 Tour of Qatar was the ninth edition of the Tour of Qatar cycling stage race. It was rated as a 2.1 event on the UCI Asia Tour, and was held from 7 February to 12 February 2010, in Qatar. The race was won by Wouter Mol of Vacansoleil.
The 2012 Tour de Pologne was the 69th running of the Tour de Pologne cycling stage race. It started on 10 July in Karpacz and ended on 16 July in Kraków, after seven stages. It was the 19th race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.
The 2012 Eneco Tour was the eighth running of the Eneco Tour cycling stage race. It started on August 6 in Waalwijk in the Netherlands and ended on August 12 in Geraardsbergen, Belgium, after seven stages. It was the 20th race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.
The 2013 Santos Tour Down Under was the 15th edition of the Tour Down Under stage race. It took place from 22 to 27 January in and around Adelaide, South Australia, and was the first race of the 2013 UCI World Tour.
The 2013 Tirreno–Adriatico was the 48th edition of the Tirreno–Adriatico cycling stage race, often known as the Race of the Two Seas. It started on 6 March in San Vincenzo and ended on 12 March in San Benedetto del Tronto and consisted of seven stages, including a race-commencing team time trial and a race-concluding individual time trial. It was the third race of the 2013 UCI World Tour season.
The 2013 Tour de Pologne was the 70th running of the Tour de Pologne cycling stage race. It started on 27 July in Rovereto, Italy – as part of two stages in the country – and ended on 3 August in Kraków, after seven stages. It was the twentieth race of the 2013 UCI World Tour season.
Mathieu van der Poel is a Dutch professional cyclist who rides for the UCI WorldTeam Alpecin–Deceuninck. He competes in the cyclo-cross, mountain biking and road racing disciplines of the sport.
The 2015 Tour de France was the 102nd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 3,360.3 km (2,088 mi)-long race consisted of 21 stages, starting on 4 July in Utrecht, the Netherlands, and concluding on 26 July with the Champs-Élysées stage in Paris. A total of 198 riders from 22 teams entered the race. The overall general classification was won by Chris Froome of Team Sky, with the second and third places taken by Movistar Team riders Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde, respectively.
The 2015 Giro d'Italia was a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race that took place in May 2015. It was the 98th running of the Giro d'Italia and took place principally in Italy, although some stages visited France and Switzerland. The 3,481.8-kilometre (2,163.5 mi) race included 21 stages, beginning in San Lorenzo al Mare on 9 May and concluding in Milan on 31 May. It was the fifteenth race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The Giro was won by Alberto Contador (Tinkoff–Saxo), with Fabio Aru (Astana) second and Aru's teammate Mikel Landa third.
The 2015 Milan–San Remo was a one-day cycling classic that took place in Italy on 22 March. The race was the 106th edition of the Milan–San Remo. It was the fourth of the 28 races on the Union Cycliste Internationale's (UCI) 2015 World Tour and the first of them to be a one-day race. It was also the first of the 2015 cycling monuments, the five most important one-day races of the year. The defending champion was Alexander Kristoff, who won the previous year's race in a sprint.
The 2015 Gent–Wevelgem was a one-day cycling classic that took place in Belgium and France on 29 March 2015. It was the 77th edition of the Gent–Wevelgem race, and was the seventh race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The defending champion was John Degenkolb, who had won the 2014 edition in a bunch sprint.
The 2016 E3 Harelbeke was a one-day cycling classic that took place on Friday 25 March 2016. It was the 59th edition of the E3 Harelbeke; it was the second one-day race of the 2016 UCI World Tour and the first of the cobbled classics.
Niels Albert (BEL)
