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Road Bicycling is one of the most popular sports in a number of European countries. The top countries in this sport are Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the United States and Switzerland. |
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Road Bicycling is one of the most popular sports in a number of European countries. The top countries in this sport are Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the United States and Switzerland (not necessarily in the order of interest). |
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There are several types of races: |
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Races are can be categorized by length and types: |
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* one-day races: All riders start together, and the first to pass the finish wins. * time trials: Every rider starts apart, and the rider with the fastest time wins. * multi-stage tours: Several one-day races, often including one or more time trials, at consecutive days. The rider with fastest total time wins. There is often also a points classification, in which a rider scores points by being in the top of each day's result. |
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Length: * Single-day races: The competitor to cross the finish line first is declared the winner. * Multi-stage races: Consists of several one-day races, often consecutively. The competitor with the lowest cumulative time to complete all the stages is declared the winner. |
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The most famous Cycling race is the Tour de France, a multi-stage tour over three weeks through France, traditionally ending in Paris. Similar long multi-stage tours are held in Italy (the [Giro d'Italia]?) and Spain (the [Vuelta a España]?). The most important one-day races form the World Cup: Milan-Sanremo (Italy), Ronde van Vlaanderen (Belgium), Paris-Roubaix (France), Liége-Bastogne-Liége (Belgium) and Amstel Gold Race (Netherlands) in Spring, Clasica San Sebastian (Spain), HEW-Cyclassics Cup (Germany), Championship of Zürich (Switzerland), Paris-Tours (France) and Giro di Lombardia (Italy) in Autumn. |
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Type: * Open road race: Generally going from point A to point B; can include multi-laps. * Criterium: Generally a circuit race with multiple laps and some sort of elimination scheme (e.g. last 5 competitors of each lap is eliminated) * Individual time trial: Every rider starts apart, and the rider with the fastest time wins. * Team time trials: Riders start in groups or teams, usually of a fixed size. The time of the nth rider of a team counts for the classification. The most famous Cycling race is the Tour de France, a multi-stage tour over three weeks through France, traditionally ending in Paris. Similar long multi-stage tours are held in Italy (the [Giro d'Italia]?) and Spain (the [Vuelta a España]?). The most important one-day races form the World Cup: Milan-Sanremo (Italy), Ronde van Vlaanderen (Belgium), Paris-Roubaix (France), Liège-Bastogne-Liège (Belgium) and Amstel Gold Race (Netherlands) in Spring, Clasica San Sebastian (Spain), HEW-Cyclassics Cup (Germany), Championship of Zürich (Switzerland), Paris-Tours (France) and Giro di Lombardia (Italy) in Autumn. |
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