A sprinter is a road bicycle racer or track racer who can finish a race very explosively by accelerating quickly to a high speed, often using the slipstream of another cyclist or group of cyclists tactically to conserve energy.
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily 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 a 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.
Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late March on the last Sunday before the Tour of Flanders.
The UCI Road World Championships Elite Women's Road Race is a one-day event for professional cyclists that takes place annually. The winner is considered the World Cycling Champion and earns the right to wear the Rainbow Jersey for a full year in road race or stage events. The event is a single 'mass start' road race with the winner being the first across the line at the completion of the full race distance. The road race is contested by riders organized by national cycling teams as opposed to commercially sponsored or trade teams, which is the standard in professional cycling.
The Tour de Pologne, officially abbreviated TdP, is an annual, professional men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages and is usually around 1,200 km in length. The race was first held in 1928 and is considered the oldest and most important bicycle race in Poland.
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 2019, a mixed team relay.
The Men's road race of the 2014 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 28 September 2014 in Ponferrada, Spain. It was the 81st edition of the championship, and Portugal's Rui Costa was the defending champion.
The Men's road race of the 2015 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on September 27, 2015, in Richmond, Virginia, United States. It was the 82nd edition of the championship, and Poland's Michał Kwiatkowski was the defending champion.
The Women's road race of the 2015 UCI Road World Championships took place in and around Richmond, Virginia, United States on September 26, 2015. The course of the race was 129.6 km (80.5 mi) with the start and finish in Richmond. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot was the defending champion, having won the world title in 2014.
The Men's road race of the 2016 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 16 October 2016 in Doha, Qatar. It was the 83rd edition of the championship, and Slovakia's Peter Sagan was the defending champion.
The Men's road race of the 2017 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 24 September 2017 in Bergen, Norway. It was the 84th edition of the championship, and Slovakia's Peter Sagan was the two times defending champion.
The Men's road race of the 2018 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 30 September 2018 in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the 85th edition of the championship, and Slovakia's Peter Sagan was the three times defending champion, a record in the event. 188 riders from 44 nations entered the competition.
The Women's road race of the 2018 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 29 September 2018 in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the 58th edition of the event, for which Dutch rider Chantal Blaak was the defending champion, having won in 2017. 149 riders from 48 nations entered the competition.
The Men's road race of the 2019 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 29 September 2019 in Yorkshire, England. The race was initially scheduled to be contested over 280 kilometres, but due to flooding on the course, the race was reduced to 260.7 kilometres. The wet weather also meant there was a limited broadcast coverage of the race.
The Women's road race of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 26 September 2020 in Imola, Italy. Annemiek van Vleuten was the defending champion.
The Men's time trial of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 25 September 2020 in Imola, Italy. Rohan Dennis was the defending champion. Italy's Filippo Ganna won the event, with Wout van Aert in second place, and Stefan Küng finishing in third.
The Men's road race of the 2020 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 27 September 2020 in Imola, Italy. Mads Pedersen was the defending champion, but he did not compete in the race.
The Men's time trial of the 2021 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 19 September 2021 in Flanders, Belgium. It was the 28th edition of the championship, for which Filippo Ganna of Italy is the defending champion, having won in 2020. Ganna retained his title after beating Belgian riders Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel.
The men's road race of the 2021 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 26 September 2021 from Antwerp to Leuven, Belgium. Defending champion Julian Alaphilippe of France won the event in a solo victory.
The men's road race of the 2022 UCI Road World Championships was a cycling event that took place on 25 September 2022 in Wollongong, Australia.
Alfredo Binda (ITA)
Mathieu van der Poel (NED)
