| Classic cycle races | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The classic cycle races are one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. Most of the events, all run in western Europe, have been fixtures on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. In the last few years, the five most revered races are sometimes described as the 'Monuments'. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
"Monumets" The Monuments are five classic cycle races generally considered to be the oldest, hardest and most prestigious one-day events in men's road cycling. They each have a long history and specific individual characteristics. They are currently the one-day races in which most points can be earned in the UCI World Tour. » Milan – San Remo (Italy) – the first true Classic of the year, its Italian name is La Primavera (the spring). First run in 1907. » Ronde van Vlaanderen (Belgium) – he Tour of Flanders (Dutch: Ronde van Vlaanderen), is an annual road cycling race held in Belgium every spring. The most important cycling race in Flanders, it is part of the UCI World Tour and organized by Flanders Classics. Its nickname is Vlaanderens Mooiste (Dutch for "Flanders' Finest"). First held in 1913, » Paris - Roubaix (France) – is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races. First run in 1896. » Liège - Bastogne - Liège (Belgium) – talso known as La Doyenne ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium. First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five Monuments of the European professional road cycling calendar. » Il Lombardia (Italy) – officially Il Lombardia, is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycling, and one of the last events on the UCI World Tour calendar. Nicknamed the Classica delle foglie morte ("the Classic of the falling (dead) leaves"), it is the most important Autumn Classic in cycling. Cobbled classics » Gent–Wevelgem (Belgium) – the first of the "Spring Classics", first held in 1934. » E3 Harelbeke (Belgium) – first held in 1958. » Tour of Flanders (Belgium) – is normally raced in early April. First held in 1913. Known in English as the "Tour of Flanders" and in Flemish/Dutch as "de Ronde van Vlaanderen". » Paris–Roubaix (France) – La Reine ("Queen of the Classics") or l'Enfer du Nord ("Hell of the North"), traditionally one week after the Tour of Flanders, and was first raced in 1896. Ardennes classics » Amstel Gold Race (the Netherlands) – normally held in mid-April. First run in 1966, it is one of the three "Ardennes Classics." » La Flèche Wallonne (Belgium) – first run in 1936, Walloon Arrow is traditionally held mid-week between the Amstel Gold and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Second "Ardennes Classic." » Liège–Bastogne–Liège (Belgium) – held in late April. La Doyenne, the oldest Classic, was first held in 1892. It is the third "Ardennes Classic." Together, Milan – San Remo, the Cobbled classics and the Ardennes classics form the "Spring Classics", all held in March and April. Summer and autumn classics » Clásica de San Sebastián (Spain) » Paris–Tours (France) - known as the "Sprinters' Classic". Trittico Lombardo (Italy) formed by: » Tre Valli Varesine » Coppa Ugo Agostoni » Coppa Bernocchi Trittico di Autunno (Italy) formed by: » Milano–Torino – First run in 1876, the race has not been run from 2008 to 2011 but has returned to the UCI calendar in 2012. » Giro del Piemonte - First run in 1906, with smaller breaks till now. » Giro di Lombardia – known as the "Race of the Falling Leaves". Initially called the Milano–Milano in 1905, it became the Giro di Lombardia in 1907 and Il Lombardia in 2012. » Summary of classic cycle races Most important cycle races according to UCI classification The results of races in yellow field are included at this page.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| This page was elaborated by the authors of www.TDFRANCE.eu, based on various web pages | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||