The Bike Sport!
Road cycling is generally more popular and the most popular among the cycling competitions. It is also the most familiar form of cycling since the races are held on the streets every day and do not need to take advantage of special structures as is the case for cycling track (velodrome).
The road cycling competitions are divided into:
online courses and time trialists.
during a single day and stage races.
In online courses, the departure is given to all runners who wins and simultaneously cut to the finish line first. If you arrive torn, you use the photo finish to determine the order of arrival without any errors.
In time trial races, each runner separately from the other party (usually at intervals of one, two or three minutes, depending on the length of the track) wins and covers the route in less time. In this type of racing is forbidden to exploit the wake of the rider in front.
The one-day races are held into one solution: the path is treated without interruption and restarts. The online courses for professional racers are long usually between 200 and 300 km time-trial races are shorter, no more than 60-70 km.
Stage races instead is spread over several fractions, called "stages" that take place usually on consecutive days. The ranking is compiled by adding together, for each runner, the time spent on various stages: the winner who takes the least total time. Riders must complete all the stages in disqualification. In general, most of the stages we run online, but there may be some time trials.
HistoryThe first cycling competitions were held in the second half of the nineteenth century. The first ever was organized in Paris in 1868 by Vélo Clun Parisien on a journey of a thousand meters, crossing the Park of Saint-Cloud, and was won by an Englishman. [1] The success was so great that many clubs were founded and organized several contests of strength, speed and stunts.
In Italy the first competition was an international competition organized in 1870 on the path along the Firenze-Pistoia 35 km, and to win the bids was an American.
Ten years later in London Bicycle Union was founded and three years later (1883) fought over the first world championships for cycling, in Leicester, won by Frenchman Frédéric de Civry. In the same year the Italian title was won by Robecchi. Was formed in 1885 in Italy and Italian Velocipedistica Union in 1892 as an international body, the International Cyclist Association, act to regulate and bring order among the various national cycling federations.
Around 1900 began to argue over some classic races that exist today: In 1892, the Liege-Bastogne-Liege (which for its antiquity is known as the Doyenne, the "dean" of the races), Paris-Roubaix in 1896, in 1903 Tour de France, in 1905 the Giro di Lombardia in 1907, the Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Italy in 1909.
The races were held then on very long journeys, even beyond 500 km, and could last 24 hours or more. The stage race is held every two or three days, to give riders time to rest. The streets were mostly unpaved and often full of potholes, breakdowns and punctures were common and runners had to repair the bikes themselves. There was no gear and climbs and descents were faced with the same ratio. Among the protagonists of this era, there are heroic Giovanni Gerbi, Luigi Ganna (winner of the Tour of Italy) and French Petit-Breton.
He then begins to narrow the gap, which becomes an average of 200-300 km, and stage races are held on consecutive days. In the twenties the first born dualism among the strongest champions of the time, and constant Girardengo Alfredo Binda. Since 1927 he competed in the World Championship, the first edition was won by Binda.
The golden age of cycling can be placed between the thirties and fifties, despite the tax break since the Second World War: in these years cycling compete in popularity with soccer matches attract huge crowds on the streets and big challenge samples as Learco War Gino Bartali, Fausto Coppi, Louison Bobet, Hugo Koblet, Fiorenzo Magni, Rik Van Steenbergen. In this period are also addressed for the first time the mountains will become legendary as the passages of the Dolomites, the Galibier, the Izoard, the Stelvio, the Alpe d'Huez. In 1949 Coppi wins first Giro and Tour in the same year, a company that many consider beyond human possibilities: the birth of the myth of the 'man only to command. "
Between the 50s and sixties should be mentioned at least Jacques Anquetil and Rik Van Looy, after which they raise the figure of Eddy Merckx, generally considered the greatest runner of all time, nicknamed "the Cannibal" for his insatiable appetite for victories (more than 500 hits in his career!). Its main rival is Felice Gimondi. In the decades after emerging runners as Francesco Moser, Giuseppe Saronni, Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, Gianni Bugno.
Recent years have seen an increasing tendency towards specialization, a trend started by Greg Lemond and subsequently continued by Miguel Indurain: while the great champions of the past were winning all kinds of races, runners now increasingly focus only on races in line, or only on those stages, on arrival in the sprint, or even only on time trials. It is the emblematic case of Lance Armstrong, who from 1999 to 2005 has won seven consecutive editions of the Tour de France and throughout this period has hardly played in other races, except for training. Among the other big "specialists" may cite Marco Pantani, the great stage races and nearly absent in those of a day, and Mario Cipollini, plurivittorioso the sprint, but among the first to come off uphill.
We must also mention the phenomenon of doping, ie the use of pharmacologic means to improve their performance. Until the sixties doping was tolerated, and all the racers used to wear in a pocket flask containing "the bomb", a mixture of ingredients including, as Coppi said, "one of the most important is the confidence that the bomb functions ". Subsequently, in the wake of tragic events like the death of Tommy Simpson in 1967 for a collapse caused by amphetamines, drug use was strictly regulated and it was introduced a requirement for regular doping controls. Many runners, however, continue to appeal, challenging the disqualification, to more sophisticated doping products, such as the infamous EPO (erythropoietin synthetic). In recent years several countries, including Italy, have set up as a doping offense, to fight it more effectively.
Main Street on cycling road races for professional cyclists is held under a yearly calendar governed by the International Cycling Union (UCI). The most important races, by tradition and the value of the runners who take part are:
the classical, that is the main racing line. Among these are the oldest and most prestigious (the 5 "Classic Monument") are the Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, which take place in that between March and April each year and the Giro di Lombardia, which takes place in October and the season traditionally ends (in recent years, however minor races are held during the winter).
The "grand tours", also called the "big stage races: the Tour of Italy, the Tour de France, the Vuelta of Spain. These take place on 20-22 stages over three weeks, a total distance of more than 3000 km, in the period from May to September.
the UCI Road World Championships, held in late September each year and covers the world champion athlete, recognizable in races where he has been the rainbow jersey. Since 1994, the traditional line test is accompanied by a time trial.
national championships, which take place in June, with each country organizes its championship. The winner of this test wearing a shirt with the colors of the national flag.
In 1989, the UCI has brought together the major classic in a competition called the World Cup, with ranking points, over a period of ten trials (in the first year there was also a final time trial). The leader of this ranking in the Cup races wearing a shirt with the rainbow band placed vertically rather than horizontally. The World Cup was held until 2004: in 2005, UCI has created a new competition called UCI ProTour which includes all the major cycling races, be they one-day races and stage races.
