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.
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI. Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series. It was initially the basis of a season long competition for rankings points, created for 2005 to replace the UCI Road World Cup series, which ended at the end of the 2004 season. The ProTour was the subject of continuing disputes involving the UCI, cycling teams, and the organizers of the world's most prominent bicycle races, and in 2009 and 2010 the ranking element of the ProTour was superseded by the UCI World Ranking. For 2011, the ProTour and World Ranking were fully merged into the UCI World Tour. ProTour status for teams – relabelled UCI ProTeams – will continue as the highest level of registration, and will carry the right and obligation to participate in all World Tour races.
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 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.
The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional road cycling races in the international calendar. Some of these events date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. The five most revered races are often described as the cycling monuments.
Maria Wilhelmina Johanna "Mirjam" Melchers-Van Poppel is a female former racing cyclist from the Netherlands, married to former sprinter Jean-Paul van Poppel. She was one of the leading cyclists in the world, having held the UCI number one ranking as well as winning highly rated races. She was a one-day specialist but has managed smaller stage races.
Mountain bike racing is the competitive cycle sport discipline of mountain biking held on off-road terrain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the discipline relatively late in 1990, when it sanctioned the world championships in Durango, Colorado. The first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup series took place in 1988. Its nine-race circuit covered two continents—Europe and North America—and was sponsored by Grundig. Cross-country racing was the only World Cup sport at this time. In 1993, a six-event downhill World Cup was introduced. In 1996, cross-country mountain biking events were added to the Olympic Games. In 2006, cross-country mountain biking events became part of the World Deaf Cycling Championships for the first time in San Francisco, USA.
The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca is a series of four professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or early February. The event is used as an early season preparatory event by many of the top teams in readiness for the bigger races later in the season. The five races are ranked 1.1 on the UCI Europe Tour.
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world's governing body in the sport of bicycle racing, classifies races according to a rating scale.
The 2012 UCI World Tour was the fourth edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The series started with the Tour Down Under's opening stage on 17 January, and consisted of 14 stage races, 14 one-day races, and one team time trial. The Tour of Hangzhou which was originally included in the list of races was postponed until 2013.
Tracey Gaudry is an Australian sport administrator, former professional cyclist and former chief executive officer of Respect Victoria - Victoria's first agency dedicated to the primary prevention of all forms of family violence and violence against women.
Para-cycling is the sport of cycling adapted for cyclists who have various disabilities. It is governed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The sport consists of seven different events which include road and track races. The world's elite para-cyclists compete at Track and Road Worlds Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the Paralympic Games and the World Cup.
The 2014 UCI Europe Tour was the tenth season of the UCI Europe Tour. The 2014 season began on 2 February 2014 with the Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise and ended on 19 October 2014 with the Chrono des Nations.
The 2016 UCI Women's World Tour was the first edition of the UCI Women's World Tour. It featured nine one-day races of the former UCI Women's Road World Cup, plus another four one-day races. However, unlike its predecessor, the World Tour also incorporated four stage races, in China, the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy respectively.
The 2016 UCI World Tour was a competition that included 27 road cycling events throughout the 2016 men's cycling season. It was the eighth edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The competition started with the opening stage of the Tour Down Under on 19 January, and concluded with Il Lombardia on 1 October. Spain's Alejandro Valverde was the two-times defending champion.
The 2018 UCI Women's World Tour was a competition that included twenty-four road cycling events throughout the 2018 women's cycling season. It was the third edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2016. The competition began with Strade Bianche on 3 March and concluded with the Tour of Guangxi on 21 October. Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands was the defending champion.
The 2019 UCI Women's World Tour was a competition that included twenty-three road cycling events throughout the 2019 women's cycling season. It was the fourth edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2016. The competition began with the Strade Bianche on 9 March and concluded with the Tour of Guangxi on 22 October.
The 2020 UCI Women's World Tour was a competition that initially included twenty-one road cycling events throughout the 2020 women's cycling season. It was the fifth edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2016. The competition began with the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race Women on 1 February. The schedule was extensively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in two-thirds of the races on the calendar being either postponed or cancelled outright. As a result, the season was extended until 8 November, when the final stage of the Ceratizit Challenge by la Vuelta took place.
The 2020 UCI Road World Championships is the 93rd edition of the UCI Road World Championships, the annual world championships for road bicycle racing. It took place between 24 and 27 September 2020 in Imola, Italy. The event was originally planned to be held in the Aigle and Martigny area in Switzerland, but this was cancelled on 12 August in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 UCI Women's World Tour was a competition that included eighteen road cycling events throughout the 2021 women's cycling season. It was the sixth edition of the UCI Women's World Tour, the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2016. The competition began with Strade Bianche on 6 March, and finished with the Ronde van Drenthe on 23 October.
Lizzie Armitstead (GBR)
