Since the first official road cycling race organized in 1868 in Saint-Cloud, on the outskirts of Paris, a whole host of competitions have emerged over the decades. Do you have trouble finding your way around the stage races, the classics or the world championships ? We'll help you take stock : let's go for an overview of the various road cycling competitions.

Stage races
This competition format takes place over several days, often a week, hence its name "stage race". The times are cumulative at each stage. There are around 30 stage races in Europe, 16 of which take place in France.

Among these events, we find the Grand Tours, the three most famous races in road cycling :
The Giro d'Italia or the Giro: the first major stage race of the season, announced in May of the 2021 calendar.
The Tour de France, nicknamed the Great Loop: a race with global reach, considered the most prestigious of cycling competitions. It is organized every year in June and July.
The Tour of Spain or the Vuelta: it takes place at the end of the season, in August and September, and closes the ball of the grand tours.

These great tours have the particularity of lasting three weeks and are followed by millions of spectators and televiewers. The rider at the head of the general classification wears a specific colored jersey: yellow jersey on the Tour de France, red jersey on the Vuelta and pink jersey on the Giro.

The classics
Unlike stage races, the classics are run over one day.
Five great classics stand out for their prestige: they are called the five monuments. Like the big tours, they are part of the UCI World Tour circuit and are contested by the most famous cycling teams in the world.
These internationally renowned classics are:

Milan San-Remo: Italian classic of around 300 km, the Primavera kicks off the classics season in mid-March! This centuries-old race is a real playground for sprinters.
The Tour of Flanders: one of the most popular Flandrian classics, this competition continues the spring calendar (early April).
Paris-Roubaix: nicknamed the hell of the North, Paris-Roubaix is ​​a dreaded Flandrian classic because of its cobbled sections, including the legendary Arenberg gap. A real challenge for cyclists in mid-April!
Liège-Bastogne-Liège: renowned Ardennes classic, it is called the Doyenne because it was created in 1892. Its rugged 260 km circuit makes it a particularly demanding race. It takes place both of April.
The Tour of Lombardy: the last monument of the season, the "classic of fallen leaves" takes place in the autumn in the middle of October. Its route between lakes and mountains in the northern region of Italy is ideal for climbers.
The road cycling competition calendar includes other classics and semi-classics, albeit less legendary than the five monuments.

Criterium
One-day races, the criteriums take place after the Tour de France in early summer. They usually take place in the city center and are an opportunity for bicycle fans to applaud their idols.
According to the rules of road cycling dictated by the UCI, the criteriums present a long circuit of 800 m to 10 km, for a maximum distance of 150 km.
With their multiple turns requiring revival, city courses are often spectacular !

The UCI Road Cycling World Championships
As opposed to the competitions mentioned above, the World Road Cycling Championships are contested each year by national team, and not by marque team.
They include two cycling events : the road race and the time trial (one-day races). The winner receives a rainbow jersey in his honor, the five colored bands of which symbolize the five continents.
A novelty from 2023: “super championships” will bring together thirteen cycling disciplines. The event will be held every four years in a single city, transformed into the cycling capital of the world for a week. Note that the World Road Championships will still take place annually between each “super championship”.

Road cycling competitions at the Olympic Games
The Olympics are of course one of the greatest competitions in cycling. And this since the first edition of the Olympics in 1896 !
The two Olympic road disciplines are :
the individual road race with a mass start in a peloton of approximately 120 km for women and 200 km for men ;
the individual time trial (CLM), a solo effort of around 50 km.
Wearing the tricolor jersey and winning the Olympic medal, a dream for all runners !