The Giro d'Italia is an annual multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 1909 to increase sales of the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport; and is still run by a subsidiary of that paper's owner. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1909, except during the two world wars. As the Giro gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened, and the peloton expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world. The Giro is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with some additional teams invited as 'wild cards'.
The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey.
The Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland.
Diana Žiliūtė is a Lithuanian racing cyclist who dominated women's road racing in the late 1990s.
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common competition formats are mass start events, where riders start simultaneously and race to set finish point; and time trials, where individual riders or teams race a course alone against the clock. Stage races or "tours" take multiple days, and consist of several mass-start or time-trial stages ridden consecutively.
The rainbow jersey is the distinctive jersey worn by the reigning world champion in a cycling discipline, since 1927. The jersey is predominantly white with five horizontal bands in the UCI colours around the chest. From the bottom up the colours are: green, yellow, black, red and blue; the same colours that appear in the rings on the Olympic flag. The tradition is applied to all disciplines, including road racing, track racing, cyclo-cross, BMX, Trials and the disciplines within mountain biking. The jersey is produced by Santini SMS since 1994.
Sylvain Chavanel is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2018 for the Cofidis, Omega Pharma–Quick-Step, IAM Cycling and two spells with the Brioches La Boulangère/Direct Énergie team. His brother Sébastien Chavanel also rode as a professional cyclist. Sylvain Chavanel was noted as a strong all-rounder who won both sprints and time-trials, and was a good northern classics rider, taking 45 wins during his professional career.
Patrick Lefevere is Belgian cycling manager of the Deceuninck–Quick-Step cycling team and, according to the ranking site CyclingRanking.com, the most successful cycling manager in history.
National road cycling championships are held annually by host nations in each cycle racing discipline. The annual events can take place at any time of the year. European nations usually holds their annual events in June, during a designed break in the professional calendar.
The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and as of 2012 Team Time Trials.
The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI's predecessor, the International Cycling Association (ICA).
Greg Van Avermaet is a Belgian professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam CCC Team. Considered one of the most versatile riders of modern cycling, Van Avermaet is 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 enables him to win sprints of small lead groups, but he has also won races after solo breakaways.
Young rider classification is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for riders below the age of twenty-five years depending on the race rules. Recipients are commonly known as the Best young rider.
The Belgian National Road Race Championship is a cycling race which decides who will become Belgian national champion for the year to come. The record for most wins is currently held by one of the most successful Belgian sprinters, Tom Steels, who managed to take four road championship titles.
The Belgian National Time Trial Championships are held annually as part of the Belgian National Cycling Championships, deciding the national champion in this discipline for the year to come. The national time trial championship in Belgium is a relatively new competition, especially when compared to the Belgium National Road Race Championship, which was first held in 1894.
Tony Hans-Joachim Martin is a German professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Team Jumbo–Visma. Martin is known as a time trial specialist, and is a four-time world champion in the discipline, having won the title in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016. He also won a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, finishing runner-up to Bradley Wiggins in the event.
The 2009 national road cycling championships began in January in Australia and New Zealand. Most of the European national championships took place in June.
The 2014 national road cycling championships began in Australia with the time trial event on January 8, as is tradition.
The 2017 Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen was the 30th edition of the Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen, a women's cycling stage race in Germany. It was rated by the UCI as a category 2.1 race and was held between 12 and 18 July 2017.
The 2019 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race that took place in Spain, Andorra and France between 24 August and 15 September 2019. The race was the 74th edition of the Vuelta a España and is the final Grand Tour of the 2019 cycling season. The race started with a team time trial in Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca.
